


One-Up

by FloffyStorm



Series: Restart? [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Undead, Blood, Body Horror, Corpses, Crying, Explosion, Fire, Gen, Murder, Trauma, morgues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:22:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 35,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27337852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FloffyStorm/pseuds/FloffyStorm
Summary: The students of Class 77-B are brought back from the dead! But will there be consequences? And just who murdered some of them?The second part of a three part story!
Series: Restart? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1937434
Comments: 128
Kudos: 122





	1. Just Like In The Video Games

Clichéd lightning cackled in the sky above as rain down poured, making the footsteps on the wet pavement less prominent. He couldn’t believe this would work, how could it? But, he had to trust… himself. It happened four times before, even if those were… rodents… but what if this worked? He’d have her back, and that’s all he wanted- well, besides an actual talent for himself but still.

He entered the secured building, sneaking past the guards and entering the ‘Laboratory’, where everything had been set up already. He shut the door to the main room, which had a table and machines he didn't actually understand. Was this like Frankenstein? Were they going to conduct electricity or something?

As he went towards what he thought was the most unexplainable room inside this ‘Laboratory’, he stopped real quick by a large cage. Just a quick check-up, really, as he gazed at the four hamsters that had stitches on their backs, heads, or stomachs. The day he found them was incredibly bizarre, as they were just… there. In a trash bin, as if they were thrown away like garbage. That’s when… it was rather gross to think about, so Hajime kept walking towards the coldest room in that building.

Inside were a few gurneys and an operating table, along with a cabinet that was specifically to hold the deceased. He stopped for a second, staring at the person on a gurney, before pushing it out into the main room where he laid her down on that table. He had no control of his movements, but he really wished he wasn’t conscious because staring at Chiaki’s face was heartbreaking. Doubts went through his mind as he hooked- wires?- something into her arms and head. 

This couldn’t actually work, could it? Not with humans, who were far more ‘complex’ than hamsters. Nonetheless, his body didn’t react the same as his thoughts, as if someone else had the metaphorical wheel, and he walked over to one of those machines that were never explained to him. His hand wrapped around a lever, and he took a moment to think.

All he could hear was the whirring of mechanical contraptions, each with a job that somehow brought a dead organism to life. The lights were dimmed- for theatrical effect, he thought- and the overall room had a green hue. Almost like science fiction, like the lab coat and rubber gloves he was wearing. Speaking of sci-fi, he pulled the lever, his mouth letting slip a maniacal laugh as the whirring intensified, and thunder clapped in the background as lights seemed to flicker rapidly.

[---]

The concept of an afterlife never crossed Chiaki’s mind much. It was only until her friends began dying that she started to think, were they somewhere safe? Were they happy? Was there actually a place for those who’ve died to spend eternity in? Or was there just the inky blackness of the void? Or was there no existence to begin with?

Then Chiaki herself died. She does not remember if she was a spirit or a ghost. The last thing she remembered was closing her eyes, and now…

She reopened them, flickering them open as if she had taken another nap. Only this time, she felt cold, and there was a certain silence she couldn’t describe. It was as if there was ringing, yet also absolute quiet. Except, it didn’t last long, because there was the whirring of machinery accompanying the silence. She tried to sit up, but it felt as if she couldn’t move a single inch.

Above her was a large light, and… Hajime? Yes! Hajime was right above! Surprised, and a bit excited and also very, very confused, she opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn’t speak. The reserve course student looked apologetic, and he smiled a little. Hey- when did he ever have heterochromia with one green and one red eye?

“Ah, oh my god, wait-” The apologetic and calm-ish look he had completely disappeared, replaced with a more bored, yet also intrigued look. “It worked. Hmm, it doesn’t seem like the rest of you is working yet, a moment.” He held up a finger and started messing around with wires and other things.

Then, Chiaki felt a shock course through her body, and she was able to lift her arms. Sitting up, she looked around in confusion. Where was she? Didn’t she die? Why was Hajime wearing a tacky lab coat?

“Vitals… practically nonexistent, but you don’t need that anymore,” Hajime said aloud, which in Chiaki’s state of shock, she simply stared and asked;

“But doesn’t a heart make the muscles move? How am I moving if I have no heartbeat?” She tilted her head.

“Don’t question my biology! I know what I’m doing…” Hajime’s voice still sounded bored, although there was an edge of excitement to it.

Then, there was a stretch of silence as Hajime was looking at a large screen that Chiaki herself couldn’t see. Sometimes, he’d mumble a statistic, and Chiaki just didn’t understand. When did Hajime get so involved with science? Especially on this level of… of… was she brought back from the dead? That stuff only happened in games and movies, though! There had to be something else… right? 

Trying to distract herself, she heard chittering, and saw… Gundham’s hamsters?! They were in a cage on a table sat near a corner, but those were definitely the Devas, but something seemed off. They had visible stitching on them, which she didn’t understand why they had that. In fact, she barely understood what was happening anymore. She sighed, then straightened a little as she dangled her legs over the table.

“...Hajime, what happened to me?” She decided to finally ask. “Didn’t I… die?”

The reserve course student fell silent, then after what seemed like forever, answered. “You did die. I…” He shifted in place, his voice the normal cynical tone that Chiaki grew to know as Hajime Hinata. “I brought you back.”

“H-how? You don’t know anything more than the average science they teach in high school… and the fact that shouldn’t be possible!” Chiaki responded in both shock and surprise, two different emotions, yet also similar. 

“...It’s a long story, but I had to go away for a while. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be gone so long.” Hajime sighed, staring at the screen. “I still had words to say to you, so I brought you back.”

“How long did it take? To bring me back, I mean,” Chiaki just wanted to know how long she had been dead for.

“Only three days.”

“Three days?! You, Hajime Hinata, the one who always said he wanted talent, brought someone back from the dead in three days?!” Disbelief rang in her voice, she just couldn’t believe Hajime could ever do something like that.

“I-I had practice…” His gaze averted to the hamsters. Chiaki knew she should’ve fought harder to get them back.

“...You brought back five living things from the dead.” It finally settled in the gamer’s mind.

“Yes.”

“Can you do it again?”

“Huh?” Hajime looked up from the screen.

“Can you do it again?” Chiaki repeated, staring straight into his eyes this time.

“M-maybe? I don’t know. Yes. Maybe?” Hajime’s voice tone switched from monotonous to the usual cynical until he seemed to reach a conclusion. “Most likely.”

“Please.” She got up, unsteadily walking towards him and grasping the counter he was at. “Please bring my friends back!”

Hajime looked at her, then down at the monitor, then back at her with a determined look. “I’ll do anything to make up the way I just deserted you. Okay,” His voice went monotonous again. “I’ll bring them all back.”

**_[+1 Life Gained!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is!! I was so excited to post this, especially since some of you were looking forward to reading it!  
> I don't know how many chapters there's gonna be, but I have a lot of ideas in this BIG, SMOOTH BRAIN of mine.  
> Can't wait for you guys to read what's coming!


	2. Come Steal a Corpse With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiaki convinced Hajime to bring her friends back, but, they need her friends first.

Apparently, it was incredibly difficult to gain access to Hope’s Peak’s morgue, but somehow, Hajime was able to formulate a plan. Chiaki decided not to question it, but was there something he wasn’t telling her? Something about that long break of not answering her calls and texts, and leaving her in the dust? She’ll ask later, because, at that moment, they needed to sneak into the actual morgue itself. 

Chiaki’s movements were still sharp and a bit unpredictable, but Hajime said it was because she hadn’t moved in so long, along with having her entire body shut down, so she just had to get used to it. They went past the guard with ease, only because Hajime somehow knew the schedules for the posts they regulated. Following her friend, Chiaki saw up ahead a peculiar steel door with a plate next to it, labeled ‘Morgue’, which just roused new questions in her. Why did Hope’s Peak have a morgue? For ultimates who specialized in autopsies? Or was it to cover up student deaths?

They went through the door, stepping into the cold room. Hajime seemed to be thinking about something, but Chiaki didn’t know, she was too busy going towards the freezers, and saw fourteen filled cabinets. Shakily, she grabbed one at random and opened it. She suppressed a wailful scream as the one she pulled out was Sonia, who looked so peaceful in this state. Time seemed to go so slowly as all she could do was stare at her dead friend, right until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Come on, we have to move the bodies onto those gurneys, then transport them to the lab.” 

“Y-yes, okay...” Chiaki nodded, looking at the freezer itself, still in somber disbelief. 

“...Is this the right one?” Hajime pointed at the freezer they were at. Chiaki merely nodded. “I should’ve known, it has the class number and everything,” Hajime replied, already trying to push the freezer.

“What?” Chiaki looked at the freezer again- and saw a plaque near the top. ‘CLASS 77-B’ Confusion hit her like a train. “Why does it have to be labeled with our class?”

“Isn’t it weird for an entire class in Hope’s Peak to drop dead within three weeks? Of course they labeled it, it’s probably part of an investigation case.” Hajime began moving bodies onto different gurneys.“Come on, we have to get out by three.”

Chiaki didn’t even realize it was early morning, late night hours. She was never the best with time, since she was, after all, the Ultimate Gamer. She slept whenever she was tired, sometimes standing up. What would happen if they were caught this late, stealing corpses? She shook the thought away and hesitantly began helping the transport of her dead friends.

Fourteen gurneys were occupied by the time they were done, and now they just had to get them outside and into the lab. Just as Chiaki was about to question about the guard and how they were going to go around him, Hajime seemed to already be taking care of it. He whacked the guard upside the head with a crowbar, effectively knocking him out. With wide eyes, she wanted to question why he did that, but wouldn’t he just shoot back with what they were doing was just as illegal? She decided to keep her mouth shut until they were home free.

The problem with transporting them was getting them outside, free of the cameras. Hajime said to follow his lead, and so Chiaki tried her best to. They effectively transported almost all of them… but the difficult one was Nekomaru. Since he was heavy, both Hajime and Chiaki had to move him, but that would take some time, and they had only thirty minutes left before a new shift. 

It took a lot of heaving and strenuous muscle work- seriously, if Chiaki didn’t have a heartbeat, how was she moving and why did she feel pain still-, but they managed to get the gurney holding the team manager outside. But… that’s when they spotted the distant flashlights, and Chiaki started to freak out a little. What if they were caught? How would they explain themselves?

The distant voices they began to hear were familiar, and Chiaki’s eyes widened when she realized it was Chisa’s voice. Their teacher must have been heartbroken to learn that all of her students were dead. Chiaki wanted to run over there to her teacher, and tell her that they were going to be alright. She caught some pieces of the conversation she seemed to be having.

“They haven’t found her at all? I can’t lose all of my students…” 

“No, you were the last person to see her.” That was their old teacher, Koichi’s, voice.

“But… where did she go? Did someone…” 

“We don’t know, but we’ll find her. Don’t worry.”

Chiaki tilted her head. “Hey, Hajime?”

“What?” He responded, a bit side-tracked with the transport of the dead body.

“Who are they talking about?”

At this, the reserve course student froze up a little, then began stuttering a little. “Um, w-well… I may have freaked a little when I saw your body and… I kinda took you away… sort of like kidnapping.”

“...So they’re looking for me? They don’t know I died?” Chiaki furrowed her eyebrows. That was something she needed to get a handle on. And the fact of, what were they going to do? The school saw them as dead, if Hajime brought back the entirety of Class 77-B, just what could they do?

“Come on, this is the last one we’ve got to move,” He said, as if it were a storage box they were moving and not the corpse of one of Chiaki’s friends.

They were able to get on by without being caught, even if this whole ordeal gave Chiaki new questions about her friend. Especially with that disappearance, just where did he go?! Gah, too many questions! Taking a breath, they walked into the ‘Laboratory’, which on the outside seemed a bit weird.

It was a tall-ish building, as large as a dorm room, with three floors. On the outside, it was gray and had barred windows, along with a very secure iron door that needed a key card. IT wasn’t far from Hope’s Peak main building, but yet it was off the normal path that a student or visitor would take, so nobody would really see it if they were just going to Hope’s Peak. The first floor seemed to be almost like an ordinary dorm, except for the ‘Research’ area. The building itself made Chiaki question a few things.

They went to the basement where the ‘Laboratory’ was held, and they put Nekomaru in the morgue area. Hajime turned to Chiaki, brushing himself off.

“Who first?” He asked.

“Does it need to go in an order?” Chiaki tilted her head.

“Preferably, the order in which they died.”

“Then, Kazuichi, I think.” 

“Alright. Let me set it up, then.”

Chiaki couldn’t tear her eyes away as Hajime worked. He lifted the body of her dead friend from the gurney, and the gamer put a hand over her mouth. She heard some snippets of how her friends all died, and if she remembered correctly, the mechanic was crushed under a car. That would explain the all over the place red marks and bruises, and the amount of stitching there was. 

The reserve course student seemed annoyed a bit, and he got out his own stitching tools and started restitching the dead body. The gamer really wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. She saw every stitch placed. Then, Hajime hooked up the corpse to those machines that whirred and went towards the monitor that had a lever next to it. He looked at Chiaki as he pulled it down.

**_[+14 Corpses Obtained!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Hajime really did just up and take Chiaki's dead body without telling anyone, huh?  
> Hope you liked this chapter! I thought the title was too funny not to use.


	3. Remnants of the Dead (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hajime begins the process of reviving the students. Chiaki begins the process of explaining the whole revival thing to them.

Kazuichi woke up screaming. It was high-pitched, squeaky, and very, very loud. Chiaki had to plug her ears, but she understood why he screamed. She had also woke up remembering her last moments, so if it was true he was crushed by a car, then he must’ve been reliving through that event. She really hoped it wasn’t this horrible for everyone.

It took several minutes to calm him down, mostly because he still thought he was ‘under the car’ and ‘needed to fix the jack’. It broke her heart to see one of her friends screaming in agony. Then, Hajime seemed to talk to him in a low voice, saying reassuring things, which Chiaki had never seen the reserve course student do. What happened to him?

Kazuichi seemed to recognize Chiaki and he finally seemed to sputter words out. “Where are- what is going- who are you-” He seemed to be trying to ask a million questions at the same time.

Hajime looked as if he were about to answer the broken up questions, but Chiaki stopped him, thinking she should handle this. “Kazuichi, please calm down. Nothing bad is going to happen,” She mentally added, ‘again’. “I know you must be confused, but you need to get off the table.

The shaking mechanic nodded, and wobbly got off the operation table, standing closer to Chiaki. Trying her best reassuring smile, she pat the unsteady teen on the shoulder, trying not to hug him at the moment. Then, she took a breath and gave him a determined look.

“Um, listen. You… you remember don’t you?” She started with. “What happened before…”

Kazuichi’s eyes widened and his jaw hung open. “Wait- didn’t I- there was no way I could’ve gotten out from under the car! Did I die?!” His fingers pulled at his hair, almost as if he was trying to find his beanie. But he wouldn’t since everyone who was in the morgue was in white clothing.

“U-um… yes. You did. We all did.” Chiaki side-eyed what Hajime was doing- he was loading Fuyuhiko’s corpse onto the table. She heard Kazuichi let out a squeaky gasp, probably at the sight of the dead body. “B-but! We’re being brought back! Everyone will be here okay!”

“We’re all.. We all… everyone?! How?! Why?!” Kazuichi started to freak out again, and Chiaki wondered how she was going to go about this. It wasn’t like some video game where she could go back- unless Hajime somehow knew how to time travel because he seemed to be keeping secrets anyway-, she needed to somehow calm the mechanic down and then explain.

“U-um, listen!” She tried. “I know this is hard to understand, but trust me. I’ll…” She furrowed her brows as she thought, then snapped her fingers. “I’ll explain everything after everyone is here, okay? Can, um, can you sit down until then?”

Shakingly, the pink-haired boy nodded and sat down, eyes wide as he stared at the operating table. Chiaki could understand, it was very heartbreaking to see her once lively friends cold and limp. But, the gamer thought- no, knew that after this day they’ll be able to be okay. Everything will be okay, at least, that’s what she hoped. The flickering of lights told her that Hajime pulled down the lever and suddenly, curses filled the room.

“JESUS FUCK HOLY SHIT THOSE GOD FUCKING BASTARDS!” Fuyuhiko screamed as he sat up extremely quickly. Chiaki’s eyes widened as the river of curses never seemed to stop, and she stood silent along with Hajime and Kazuichi.

Then, the yakuza heir looked around, his eyebrows furrowed in anger, and had a penetrating glare on his face. He looked over at Hajime, then over at Chiaki, then right at Kazuichi with wider eyes. The shortest of the small group pointed and spoke with a shaky yet also pissed off tone.

“You! You’re fucking dead, bastard!” Then, he touched his chest. “Wait- fuck- wait a minute. Shit- am I-?” This was Chiaki’s cue.

She got up, walking over to Fuyuhiko. “Are you okay?”

“...Did… am I dead?” He looked around again. “Shit! I’m fucking dead, aren’t I? God damn it!” He put his head in his hands.

“Well- that was true. You were dead, like me and Kazuichi. But! You’re alive now!” Chiaki smiled.

“...You died, too? Did- did anyone else die?” He got off the table, looking around still.

“...Yes.” Chiaki looked down. “Our entire class did.”

“Then… that means… fucking hell!” He stomped over to a wall and slammed his fist into it. “God damn it, Peko…” 

“We’re going to bring them all back, though!” Chiaki said, and Fuyuhiko looked up at her.

“How the fuck- wait a fucking minute who is that bastard over there?!” He pointed at Hajime, who was putting Akane on the table. “The hell did he do?!”

“That is Hajime, he’s my friend!” She didn’t mean for the last part of her sentence to waver. “He brought us back from the dead, somehow…”

“Shit, there’s no consequences to this, right? No fuckery? We’re all being brought back?”

“Yes. No tricks. I made sure of it.” She looked over at the… reserve course student, who was staring down at Akane with an exasperated expression and took out a needle and thread.

“Then what the hell is he doing?” Fuyuhiko practically spat, pointing accusingly at the sewing Hajime was doing.

“I’m… not really sure, but I’m sure it’s reasonable.” There was a small voice in her head, telling her that this wasn’t the Hajime she knew. This Hajime would probably do something so he could get an upper hand in any situation. She crushed this small doubt in her friend, before seeing the lights flicker.

Sniffing. The first thing Akane did when she was revived was sniff the air, and drool out of her mouth. She looked at Hajime like he was a buffet, and in return he stepped away from her, looking at Chiaki with that familiar signal of help. The gamer walked over with a grin, reassured that Akane didn’t change one bit.

“Hey, um, Akane. I’m sure you have questions…” She started, trying to set motions to go through with everyone.

“Yeah, got any food?” She asked, getting up and scratching the side of her head.

“Oh, I don’t know actually.” Did they even need to eat anymore? They were dead, and they basically had no vitals… she didn’t want to question ‘Hajime’s biology’.

“Bummer. Oh, hey baby gangsta.” She waved, then waved to Kazuichi.

“The hell?! You die, and come back, and you decided THAT as your go-to?!” Fuyuhiko said through clenched teeth, raising a fist. “Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me that?!”

“Oh yeah… I did die.” Akane stared off into space, then a very quick change in behavior happened. She looked incredibly angry, her fingers held out like claws. “I’ll fight whoever decided to let me die!”

“That would be fate.” Hajime’s- could she even call it his voice- icy tone rose up as he was putting Sonia on the table. 

“Then I’ll fight fate! Where do I find them?” Akane looked around.

“Akane! You don’t have to fight anyone. We need to wait for the others to come back.” Chiaki stood taller to match with Akane.

“Others? But only we died right?” She looked over at the table where Sonia lay, and where Hajime seemed to be doing his own investigation of her death. “Or her too?!”

“...All of us.” Chiaki looked down again, always unable to face her classmates after revealing that.

“Everyone?! Including Coach?!” Akane yelled, grasping Chiaki’s shoulders.

“Yes, but they’re going to come back! Like we did! So we just have to wait!” Chiaki already started to feel winded, but she had to keep telling them. Just until they were all back together. “We have to wait.”

“Can you bring Coach back now?” 

“Well, Hajime wanted to do it in a specific order. The order in which we died.” Chiaki responded with.

“...Huh. Wait- but you weren’t dead when I died!” 

“Well, true… but Hajime at first wanted to revive only me, but I convinced him to revive you guys!” Chiaki puffed out her cheeks, folding her arms. “I wasn’t about to be the only one back!”

“Coach was right,” Akane picked at her ear, then sat down with a look of discontentment.

“Uh- hey, how did Sonia die?” Kazuichi asked, staring at the operating table.

“...I think it was poison.” Chiaki didn’t want to remember, but if her friend wanted to know. 

“Like… someone poisoned her?” Kazuichi turned his head, staring at the gamer with furrowed eyebrows and a hung open mouth.

“W-well, no, I don’t think so? Or… actually…” If Chiaki thought about it, how many of her classmates’ deaths were by murder and not accidental?

“Are you tellin’ me some of you were murdered?!” Akane shouted. “I’ll kill whoever murdered you!”

“I- I wasn’t murdered! And there are only a few confirmed murder cases I can think of…” Chiaki started counting. Mahiru, for most obvious reasons. She was almost sure Peko had been murdered, too, because how else would a sword go through her like that? Then there was Gundham. “Three, I think. Mahiru, Peko and Gundh-”

“Peko?!” Fuyuhiko yelled. “Peko wouldn’t get killed!”

Chiaki thought about it. “Well, it wasn’t really confirmed… actually, none of them were confirmed murders, because it was never released to the public, I think.” She sighed.

“Wait, you’re sayin’ none of our deaths were announced or anything?” Kazuichi started drumming his fingers on the back of his chair.

“Yes.” Chiaki looked down, again. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why…”

“Because,” The cold, monotonous voice of Hajime sounded. “With already two murders in the reserve course, wouldn’t a whole class going to make everything all the more worse?” He gave out a small chuckle. “Hope’s Peak Academy, the school where they hide everything.”

“Those bastards!” Fuyuhiko mumbled, which was a bit surprising.

“Why don’t we all just wait for everyone else to wake up?” Chiaki suggested. “That way, I can explain everything in one go.” 

“You know what? Fine. Whatever. Just get Peko back.” Fuyuhiko sat down again, crossing his arms and watching with a scowl.

Kazuichi nodded, turning back to the operating table as Akane stayed standing, shoulders slumped, and looked more depressed than anger-fueled like before. Chiaki sighed, turning to the table as well, watching as Hajime pulled the lever down, a look of boredom on his face. The lights flickered once more, the whirring of machinery turning into loud buzzing until it stopped. 

At first, nothing happened. Chiaki immediately felt worried, questions running through her mind. Why wasn’t Sonia waking up? Did something go wrong? Hajime himself looked a bit perplexed, although it was almost as if his emotions were flipping between confused and bored.

Then, the princess opened her eyes, and very gracefully sat up- more graceful than the last three classmates Chiaki helped. “Um… what happened?” She spoke, yet her voice was incredibly hoarse and sounded as if she were suppressing a coughing fit. “I could have sworn…”

“Sonia, are you okay?” Chiaki asked, walking over.

“Oh! Yes, I believe s-” She gasped. “Soda?! Fuyuhiko?! Akane?! I thought-” She cleared her throat. “I thought you were all dead!”

“Yeah. Long story, apparently.” Fuyuhiko snorted.

“Yeah, ya know I couldn’t leave y-” Kazuichi seemed to shift a bit before cutting himself off, the cocky grin he had going smaller. “L-leave without achieving my dream.”

“I am incredibly happy to see you all alive! Oh, where are we? Shouldn’t we celebrate?” Sonia looked around, then looked at Chiaki.

“Sonia.” Chiaki sighed.

“Yes, we should be with the rest of our classmates! They would be utmost excited that you three are actually alive! It would be hella boss to see their expressions as well!”

“Sonia!”

“Oh, but why are we here? And where are the rest of our friends? I don’t believe this to be part of the school’s map, maybe I read some parts wrong…”

“Sonia, please listen.” Chiaki grabbed the princess’ arm gently. “We…” She looked at Hajime, who looked incredibly annoyed, and he gestured to the current corpse he had and to the table Sonia was still on. “Actually, you might want to get off the table first, I think.”

She agreed, getting off the table so Hajime could put Teruteru on it. It sounded like Sonia tried to let out a scream, but she started coughing. Chiaki pinched her eyebrows together, but thought nothing of it, probably something to do with not talking for long. The gamer then took a breath. 

“Sonia, we all died.” It was like ripping off a bandaid. Multiple times.

“O-oh… that was no nightmare of mine. I see.” She let out a long, dreary sigh. It looked as if she were on the brink of tears, then squealing made her look up. “Is… is that…?” She looked over at the hamster cage. She rushed over to them, opening the cage and letting the hamsters crawl on her.

“I wouldn’t mess with them too much,” Hajime stated. “They’re Subject Zero.” And he left it at that.

Chiaki sighed, a bit happy Sonia found something else to focus on for the time being. All they had to do now was wait for the next, and Chiaki would say her piece. She watched as once more, the lights flickered.

**_[Kazuichi Soda, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, Akane Owari and Sonia Nevermind have joined your party!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I?? Love your guy's comments so much?? It makes me really happy to see people be excited for this!  
> Also, another one out! This will be part of the 'Remnants of the Dead' four-parter! It's basically them being revived and explained that they're dead. Y'know, an average Tuesday.


	4. Remnants of the Dead (Part Two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even more have awoken! But who the hell is that and where is Ryota?

Once again, the subject on the table woke up screaming horribly. Only this time, it was accompanied by Kazuichi and Sonia surprised screaming, Akane yelling to see if she could yell louder than the subject, and Fuyuhiko shouting at them to stop. All the while, Chiaki waited until it died down so she could catch Teruteru up to speed, while also feeling some of her sanity slip away. Hajime looked as if he were about to snap.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, they stopped, silence stretching over the air. Chiaki let slip a small laugh, looking at the wide-eyed faces of her resurrected classmates. Seeing Hajime’s expression, she cleared her throat and walked over to Teruteru who was touching his face- which had a few burns, which was odd because one would expect him to have more. She put on a small smile.

“Hey, hey. It’s alright, you’re okay now!” Chiaki smiled. “I’ll explain everything once everyone’s here. Please get off the table though...” She looked up at Hajime.

The cook- chef still looked confused, anyone would be, but he still got off the table and walked over to the others. The gamer could hear them chatting away, about how he thought they were dead and how much he missed them. It was one of the few moments Teruteru didn’t make a raunchy joke or comment, even if he was trying to grow in respect of his classmates. 

Then, Hajime put Ryota on the table… then seemed to stare at him for longer than he did with the others. He made no move to stitch anything, only stare. It started giving Chiaki goosebumps, the way he just gave a cold, calculating stare. Just as she was about to ask what the matter was, he moved after what seemed like ages, but only to grab a scalpel, and slowly lower onto Ryota’s face. 

“Hajime, what are you-” She covered her mouth when he started making an incision. This was insane! She could try to excuse everything else, but what could possibly benefit from this?! Then, she gagged when he seemingly pulled off his face. “Wh-what the hell… Hajime…”

“Oh. So, my suspicions were right.” Hajime merely commented. “He was the Ultimate Imposter. That concludes hours of investigation.”

“What…?” Chiaki crept a bit closer and looked down. He was right- possibly? The ‘face’ he was holding was a mask, and underneath was a different person. “Huh?!”

“Well, the Ryota Mitarai you know is just someone posing as him. I wonder how long this dates back? I better ask,” Hajime walked over the lever. “What? Never seen an imposter before?”

“N-no…” Chiaki took a step back. How long had Ryota been replaced? How did they never notice?!

The lights flickered- but to Chiaki they might as well be lightning on a stormy day. The person on the table awoke, sitting up and looking around with a confused, yet stern face. Chiaki had been so prepared- to tell Ryota that it was fine and that all will be explained after everyone was back. But… but what will she say to a complete stranger? 

“Who the hell is that bastard?” Fuyuhiko said from behind her. She knew those behind her had to be confused as well.

The… the imposter looked at them with narrowed eyes, then they looked over at the table and must’ve seen the mask. They looked back at them, almost with an understanding stare. Chiaki instinctively stepped back when they got off the table, and looked at the small group slowly growing.

“I see that my disguise has been removed.” Their voice wasn’t anything like timid Ryota’s, but instead ambiguous and had sincere undertones. “You all must have questions, but I’m going to tell you right now to drop them for a moment.”

“Wh-what?” Chiaki couldn’t understand.

“The hell do you mean, ‘drop them’?!” Fuyuhiko shouted, anger seething in his voice.

“Yeah! I think we deserve to get some questions answered!” Akane cracked her knuckles.

“It would be very appreciated if we could!” Sonia said firmly, taking a step forward.

“Again, there are more pressing matters than this topic. I will only state at the moment that I have been impersonating Ryota Mitarai since we started at Hope’s Peak.” The imposter crossed their arms, the tone of their voice giving a ‘end of discussion’ sense. 

“O-okay…” Chiaki could accept this, after all, she’s been accepting a few oddities happening ever since she was resurrected. She’ll ask questions later, like she always will.

“That’s not-” Fuyuhiko started to argue, but the imposter lifted a hand, and the yakuza heir crossed his arms and looked off- which sort of surprised Chiaki.

The rest of the small group mumbled their agreements as well, mostly because there was a bigger matter to be said. “U-uh,” Chiaki waved at the imposter. “I-I guess I’ll explain everything until everyone is back…”

“Hold on, what?” The imposter raised a brow. “We’re all being brought from the dead? That means everyone else died?”

“Y-yes…” Chiaki stared down, almost not wanting to stare at this stranger’s face. But… if they had been there from the very start, that means they weren’t a stranger. Right?

“Damn it… I failed…” The imposter’s voice filled with guilt, catching Chiaki off guard. “I promised…”

“Wh-wha-” Chiaki shook her head. “No! It’s not anyone’s fault we all died!” Thoughts of her thinking the very same thing ran through her head. “It’s- no, it IS someone’s fault!” Her voice was full of determined anger. “I- I think!” She stopped spilling after that, not wanting to tell more at the moment.

“Wait- did ya just say it is someone’s fault we died?” Kazuichi spoke up.

“U-uhm… not all of us… I’ll explain later.” Chiaki said, sighing, then nearly jolting in surprise when Fuyuhiko shoved her out of the way of the table.

She turned to see why he did so, then saw Peko’s body on the table. The yakuza heir was over her, his fists clenched so tightly Chiaki thought he might bleed from it. He seemed agitated, or guilty, it was a mix from what Chiaki could tell. Then, the lights flickered, and Chiaki saw Peko gasp.

“Y-young m-” Peko began to struggle to say, but Fuyuhiko interrupted her.

“No- no, don’t… just don’t call me that anymore.” Fuyuhiko pulled Peko into a hug, and Chiaki could see him crying. “Come on… just come on…” He pulled Peko off the table, and the swordswoman very unsteadily followed along. “We’ll talk later…”

Chiaki felt a bit puzzled. She knew they were close somehow, because of the way they interacted and such, but this gave a new layer of befuddlement to it. She didn’t want to pry on her classmate’s personal lives, anyway. She may love them, but she didn’t want to know their secrets. Fuyuhiko then told Peko what Chiaki told him, and the gamer decided to just give Peko a smile and look back at Hajime.

He was putting Mahiru on the table, then went to restitch the stitches. She wondered why he had to, weren’t they already stitched up from the autopsies? If there had been any autopsies done of them, that is, because Hope’s Peak just seemed to love keeping everyone in the dark. She continued to watch, never going to get over the faces of her dead friends before their awakening. 

The gamer watched as Hajime finished the stitches, then walked from the table to the nearby machine with the lever. The lights flickered when Hajime pulled down the lever again, and Mahiru also woke up screaming. But, this time, she was screaming words like Fuyuhiko did. 

“Why?! Why are you doing this?!” Mahiru brought her legs to her chest, holding her head on the table. “What did I do?! Stop! Stop! Stop…” Her voice quieted as she slowly looked around.

Chiaki took the chance to walk over. “Um- hey, hey! Mahiru, you’re fine now!”

“What? But- but I was stabbed…” Mahiru then looked over at the already revived. “And they were dead.”

“Long story short, we… we all died.” Chiaki didn’t look down at the floor this time. “But, my good friend…” Her words hesitated a bit around ‘good friend’. “Hajime is bringing us back from the dead. We are all okay!”

“Wait- all of us? Even… Hiyoko, Mikan and Ibuki?” Mahiru looked off distantly.

“Y-yes, but! We are all okay. I’ll provide a longer explanation once everyone’s back.” 

“...Hm, alright…” Mahiru got off the table, then almost immediately went over to the revived, and started asking more questions. But these were about their well-being. “Are you feeling okay, guys? This is just so confusing- who is that?” She pointed at the imposter.

“That is irrelevant at this moment.” The imposter crossed their arms.

“Are you sure? You might be a murderer or something.” Mahiru pointed an accusatory finger.

“Please, we’ve already died. What could I possibly do, kill everyone twice?” 

“Who fucking knows?” Fuyuhiko said, mostly apart from everyone else besides Peko. “We don’t know who you are.”

The imposter huffed. “Hey- how about we all just calm down?” Sonia smiled, holding the hamsters on her shoulders. “These are confusion times, we must be held together.” It was almost as if it was said for herself.

“Confusing.” Hajime corrected her, already putting Mikan on the table. He worked quickly, Chiaki noticed.

“Right, I am sorry.” The princess sighed, then straightened.

And then, the lights flickered again. They were really starting to make Chiaki sick- yet also hopeful. They brought hope in her eyes.

**_[Teruteru Hanamura, The Ultimate Imposter, Peko Pekoyama, and Mahiru Koizumi have joined your party!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imposter really said: "Off-topic question, next."  
> I hope you guys know I don't know when or how this is going to end I only know loosely connected plot lines.


	5. Remnants of the Dead (Part Three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another round of students being revived- wait, Hajime where are you going?!

Mikan woke up laughing. It shocked Chiaki at first- she would’ve thought Mikan would cry, but no, she awoke laughing. Then, came the tears falling from her eye, sobbing into her hands as she sat up. She started muttering the phrase ‘I’m sorry’ over and over, and Chiaki put on a sympathetic face, and walked over. She put a hand on the nurse’s shoulder.

“Hey, hey! You’re okay!” She said reassuringly. “You’re alive! Kind of…”

“...Wh-what?” She blinked, then looked at herself, looked up at the others. “WH-WHAT?!”

“Um, it’s a long story, but can you get off the ta-” Chiaki was interrupted by Mikan, who was practically pulling out her own hair at this point. 

“This isn’t medically possible! The dead can’t be brought to life! How the HELL are the organs working, and what about the blood flow!?” Mikan’s voice was a drastic change, as if there was a sudden, ignited anger.

“Hey!” Before Chiaki had the chance to say anything, Hajime gave a retort to Mikan. “Do you think medical science doesn’t tie into my studies of necromancy?” 

“Wh-what?” Mikan still looked distraught, but seemed like confusion brought her down.

“I said, do you think I didn’t need knowledge of medical practices to bring you from death?” Hajime said with a colder tone this time.

“I-I don’t kn-know?” Mikan had tears in her eyes again.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing, putting her down like that?” Mahiru strode over, her finger pointed at Hajime accusingly. “She’s just confused like the rest of us, you have no right! So how about you man up and apologise to her!” 

Hajime stared at Mahiru with an unrecognizable look- but what was recognizable about Hajime nowadays? “Fine. I apologise for my words and actions, but next time I won’t be so harmonious.” He huffed. “Now get off the table, I’ve got more people to revive with my medical sciences.”

Mahiru helped Mikan off the table, sticking her nose up in the air as she guided the nurse away. Chiaki sighed, wondering why Hajime was way more of a jerk than the low-key jerk he used to be. She couldn’t believe she was saying it, but low-key jerk Hajime was better than whoever this was. Reminding herself that she would ask questions after everyone’s okay and they situate themselves somewhere else, the gamer watched as he put Hiyoko on the table.

“They couldn’t set her neck back in place?” Hajime asked, cracking his own knuckles.

“Wait, what do you mean by tha-” Chiaki was taken off-guard when Hajime just re-snapped Hiyoko’s neck with a loud crack. 

“What the hell-” Mahiru started, then just shook her head.

“What?” Hajime asked, snorting and going over to the lever again. “It was needed, not my fault if you’re queasy.” He pulled down and the lights flickered.

Hiyoko almost immediately sat up upon awakening, looking around wildly, and her gaze stopped at Mahiru. “Mahiru!” She yelled, hopping up and running over, tackling the photographer with a hug, and wailing. Loudly. 

Chiaki smiled at the events taking place. Mahiru comforted Hiyoko, and started to tell her what Chiaki told them so far. Surprisingly, Hiyoko also hugged Mikan, but then went back to hugging Mahiru, latching on and never seeming to let go. Her friends were soon to be all here, and that’s all she could ever ask for. 

However, as she tried to take in the moment, the nagging thought of what happened to Hajime plagued her. She stared at the reserve course student, who was setting up the next classmate to be risen, and felt nothing but concern. Her list of questions were growing, and she didn’t know how long it would be until she could ask them all. She just wanted to know what happened to her friend. 

Then, the lights flickered, and she pushed the concerns away for now. Ibuki woke up, sitting up instantly also but imitating playing a guitar. Then, she opened her eyes and looked around.

“Woah… Ibuki must be dreaming, because I see my friends alive and well! Or did Ibuki die? Wait…” Ibuki narrowed her eyes. “What about the fire?”

“Well, the fire was put out… and you’re alive. And everyone else is alive.” Chiaki smiled. “Now, at least. Ibuki… you died.”

Ibuki stared with a blank look, then looked incredibly shocked. “Ibuki was right?! We all did die! Everyone died!” 

“Yes- but we’re fine now! Look, we’re all being revived like in a video game- or when an old song becomes popular again?” Chiaki smiled cheerfully, but also nervously.

“If I was right… then no-one should doubt Ibuki again!” She grinned, putting her hands on her hips.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea anytime soon…” The imposter suddenly said.

“Woah- who’s that?” Ibuki pointed. 

“That…” Chiaki put a finger on her chin. “Um…”

“You may have recognized me as Ryota,” The imposter interrupted, crossing their arms. “But, that was a disguise. I am not the real Ryota. That’s all I’m saying for now.”

Ibuki tilted her head, then shrugged, jumping off the table. “If you were here since we started this school, that means I still know you, right?”

“...Perhaps.” The imposter huffed.

“Then Ibuki still views you as a good friend!” Ibuki hugged the imposter.

That made Chiaki smile, at least Ibuki could try and see a more positive view on things. Then, the table had another person on it, and she heard Sonia gasp, and even the hamsters chittered. Yes, even though they have been seeing person after person’s dead body, it was still new to get used to. Nobody should, really.

“I knew you said everyone died… but still…” Sonia muttered, a bit mournful. Chiaki heard Kazuichi mumble something, but she didn’t hear, she was waiting for the lights to flicker.

But no lights flickered. Hajime was just staring at the corpse of Gundham, tapping his chin. Was something wrong? Why wasn’t he bringing the breeder back? Then, Hajime put his hands on his hips and looked up.

“I’m going to assume he had a leg before. Can you tell me where he died, Chiaki?” Hajime asked, tilting his head.

“U-um, why?” Chiaki asked.

“Reasons. Tell me the location.” 

Chiaki tried her best to remember and tell him, and then…

“Thank you, I’ll be right back.” And he left, going out the door, leaving the revived students alone in a room with three corpses, much to their confusion, on varying levels.

**_[Mikan Tsumiki, Hiyoko Saionji, and Ibuki Mioda have joined your party!]_ **

**_[Ha[]im[] []ina[]a has left your party momentarily!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hajime went 'bye'  
> Chiaki is starting question her sanity (probably)  
> Also, I recently saw DV3- have to say, a bit disappointed with that ending...


	6. Remants of the Dead (Part Four)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last three are brought back, but Chiaki feels incredibly guilty.

Chiaki watched as Hajime left, her face a mixture of confusion and concern. If he was going to that warehouse, what did he hope to accomplish there? All he’d probably find is an empty shark tank and a bunch of police tape. She couldn’t focus on that right now, though, because her friends were also very, very confused.

“Did that bastard just fucking leave us here?!” Fuyuhiko shouted, going over to the door and kicking it.

“Uh- maybe he’s just getting a snack or something?” Kazuichi suggested, scratching his head.

“Or h-he c-could be realizing that necromancy doesn’t entirely i-involve medical s-science?” Mikan drilled her gaze into the floor, her tone sounding angry at the end.

“But wouldn’t it?” Hiyoko countered, her voice a bit snarky like her usual self would be. “Don’t you need to like, repair a person before making them alive again?”

“B-but that’s c-completely impossible! Who does h-he think he is, d-defying the laws of nature?!” Mikan grabbed at her own hair in frustration.

“His name is Hajime, and he’s a... “ Chiaki stared down at the floor.

“He’s a what?” The imposter crossed their arms, almost in a waiting pose. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ‘Ultimate Necromancer’ around Hope’s Peak.”

“He- he’s…” Chiaki tapped her chin. “He’s a reserve course student.”

“Ibuki has a question!” Ibuki raised her hand, waving it around. “How did a reserve course student revive Ultimates if reserve course students have no talent?”

“Um… I’m not…” Chiaki crossed her arms, puffing out her cheeks. “I’m not entirely sure, but I can trust Hajime, can’t I?” She didn’t mean to ask it like a question. Pushing the doubt down again she gave an uplifting smile. “He’s my friend, I would never dream of thinking otherwise!”

“Sometimes your friends aren’t what they seem.” The imposter noted, and Chiaki felt a drop of sweat go down her forehead.

“Right…” 

“Ah, can we go back on the subject of this ‘Hajime’ leaving us with the rest of our classmates’ dead bodies?” Sonia expressed worry in her voice. “I’m starting to become a bit unsettled.”

There were only three gurney’s left, two of which were filled while the other had been emptied. Akane was over one of the gurneys, looking incredibly guilty. Chiaki sighed, sitting down and waiting. The entire room lapsed into silence except for the occasional sigh, huff or squeak.

It felt like hours had passed until the door reopened, and Hajime entered carrying something wrapped in white cloth. Chiaki jumped up, smiling, but also very confused as to why Hajime was soaking wet and holding something in his hands. He calmly walked over to Chiaki, holding the cloth-wrapped object out.

“Can you hold this for me?” He asked.

“Uh, sure, but can you tell me-” She was interrupted by him shoving the thing in her hands and going towards the operating table.

“Hey, asshole, where were you?!” Fuyuhiko growled, but Hajime just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“None of your concern.” Was his reply.

Chiaki sighed, shifting the weight of whatever she was holding in her arms. Curiosity came over her, and she lifted one side of the cloth, let out a surprised yelp, and nearly dropped the ‘object’ she was holding. Shaking, she looked over to Hajime who had a needle in one hand and was looking up at her.

“Hajime…?” She asked, squeezing her eyes shut.

“What?” He responded, his voice lack-luster as if everything was perfectly normal.

“What am I holding?” She knew the answer. She just wanted him to say it.

“A leg.”

“...I thought so…” She didn’t, in fact, want to be holding a leg, that was the exact opposite of what she wanted to do. “Why? Just… why, Hajime?”

“What? Did you want this guy to have a leg or not? I’ll have you know, it wasn’t easy. I thought that shark ate it, but I was in luck.” Hajime smiled at her, then took the leg from her. “And I didn’t feel like making a whole leg in the workshop.”

“...Workshop?” Chiaki wiped her hands on her skirt- which she wanted to ask how long she had been wearing her clothes for but she knew the answer already- and tilted her head.

“Yes, level three has a workshop, next to the barbershop and across from the toyshop.” Hajime chuckled to himself as he stitched.

“...This place has a toyshop?” Chiaki blinked.

“Hey- real quick questiooooon!” Ibuki hollered. “What is this place?”

Hajime began explaining. “You’re in the laboratory, across from the conservatory and next to the-” 

“I believe we get it,” Peko cut him off. “The building we are in is full of different rooms.”

“Yes.” Hajime cracked his knuckles and went over to the lever. “Let’s discuss this with the others, alright?” The lights flickered.

Instead of screaming, laughter, crying, or even coughing, Gundham just opened his eyes. He rose up like a vampire out of a coffin, and Sonia let out an excited squeal and hugged him. Chiaki got ready to explain things to him, waiting for the princess to step back. When she finally did- with a prompted shoulder tap from Chiaki- the gamer walked towards Gundham, who looked very confused.

“Okay- um, You probably have a lot of questions, I think, but I want to explain fully when Nekomaru and Nagito are back, so the short version is…” Chiaki tried to smile reassuringly. “You died, but! You were brought back.” 

“I see, it appears that a powerful sorcerer must have learned the secret spell of necromancy…” Gundham muttered, standing up and sort of stumbling towards Sonia, who had his hamsters. 

Chiaki smiled at yet another successful attempt at getting a person to be calm about their revival, even if it was almost impossible to be calm about their situation. She was too busy watching Gundham speak to his hamsters- she had felt bad about letting those four go, unable to save them- that she didn’t notice Hajime struggling with Nekomaru’s body. It was only until he made a loud complaint about it that she realized and covered a small laugh until getting Akane to help.

“I revive them, that doesn’t mean I can lift them all the time!” Hajime grunted, shaking from the muscles he was applying to lift Nekomaru’s left side.

“Hey, you better not drop coach!” Akane growled in response.

“Hey, hey, calm down..” Chiaki said from the other end, carrying Nekomaru’s legs. “We won’t!”

They all gently laid the team manager onto the table after a slow, careful movement, and let Hajime do his magic. The lights flickered, and Nekomaru woke up with a sound that Chiaki could only describe as a lion’s roar. He practically leaped from the table, cracking his knuckles and looking around, then seemingly giving a nod and folding his arms. Chiaki approached with a smile like usual, but was shoved aside roughly by Akane, who seemed very excited.

“Coach! You’re back! Here I thought you weren’t ever going to be revived!” The gymnast pumped her fists in the air.

“Revived? Is that how all of you are alive?!” Nekomaru shouted in his usual loud voice.

“Y...yes!” Chiaki raised an arm, getting up from the floor that she was shoved onto. “Please let me explain, Akane…” She shook the dizziness from her head and straightened herself up. “We all… died. But, we were brought back by my good friend Hajime!” She smiled. 

“Hm…” He looked over at the reserve course student, who was putting the last student onto the table. “I see, thanks!” He gave a thumbs-up to Hajime, smiling widely.

“Um… you can sit down if you want. There’s only… one person left…” Chiaki thought about Nagito. Nagito, who she had sworn to herself that she’d make sure he’d never go. Nagito, who she thought was safe because of his luck. Nagito, who she left in the dust because of a dud phone call. Nagito, who she left to die.

She must have been silent for a while, because she felt a hand on her shoulder, and saw Sonia looking at her worryingly. “Are you alright, Chiaki?”

“Y...yeah!” She never knew she could lie to her friends like that. “Hajime, bring back the last of our friends!” 

Hajime huffed and pulled the lever down. The lights flickered, and what happened next was enough to give anyone whiplash. Nagito sat up, laughing- or was it choking, it sounded as if he was without air anyway-, then he looked around with a twisted grin.

“Ah! It seems my good luck ran out and I died! How unfortunate!” He laughed-choked again, then stopped when he saw Chiaki. “But wait- you’re not dead. Or did you die?”

Seeing Nagito made Chiaki freeze. If only she’d been there! She shook the thoughts, trying to focus. “Y-yes, but my friend brought us back. Nagito, I just want to say-”

The lucky student laughed again. “Your friend? Who’s the ultimate that decided to bring us back from death? Does this mean my bad luck has also run out?” He looked around, and his eyes landed on Hajime. “And who’s he?” His tone went dead-cold. It was as if the sight of Hajime disgusted him.

“That’s my good friend Hajime, he brought us back. Nagito-” Chiaki tried again.

“Him? But he’s a reserve course student. Did an Ultimate help him? Don’t tell me a simple, talentless reserve course student brought you Ultimates back from the dead.” The lucky student snorted, crossing his arms.

“Nagito! Can I just please say sorry?!” Chiaki didn’t mean to grab his shoulders forcefully. 

“Huh?” Nagito tilted his head. “Why would you, an Ultimate, apologize to someone like me?”

“Because! I left you! If I’d been there, I- I could’ve helped!” Chiaki closed her eyes. “If… if I’d been there for all of you… I could’ve helped…” Tears were streaming down her face. “I just… why did we all…” 

“Chiaki…” Hajime’s voice wasn’t cold, or bored-sounding, it was his voice.

“But it wasn’t your fault we all kicked the bucket!” Akane said, trying to be reassuring.

“Yes! It was all accidents or by pure coincidence!” Sonia said, and almost everybody else made small sounds of disagreement.

“Ibuki thinks you shouldn’t blame yourself, because you weren’t responsible for us!” Ibuki smiled, hugging Chiaki.

“G-guys…” Chiaki smiled, sniffling a little.

“Hahaha, all hearts warming and things, but can we move on? You’re all alive now. Can we figure out what to do next?” Hajime’s voice was back to monotonous and cold. 

“Huh? Is this reserve course student telling us what to do?” Nagito huffed.

“Oh… he’s right, though.” Chiaki hummed. “We need to think of what comes next.”

**_[Gundham Tanaka, Nekomaru Nidai and Nagito Komaeda have joined your party!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last installment of this four-parter! Original chapter titles, coming soon!


	7. Boring Explanation Start!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some explanations are told, and some secrets unfold.

Hajime had decided to show them to a board meeting room, which he called ‘The Most Boring Place on Earth’, because the laboratory was a bit cramped and didn’t have enough chairs. Chiaki was grateful, but still, a seedling of doubt was latched in her mind, worried about her friend. Why was he in this building full of contrastingly different rooms, where there were bars on the windows and the doors to the staircases and elevators have high-security locks? Is this why he hasn’t been around?

There they all sat, around a long table with multiple chairs, Hajime at one end and Chiaki at the other. Everyone else was at either side, their faces all ranging from confused, nervous or surprisingly angry. Chiaki felt a bit nervous herself, wondering how she was going to explain it all well enough.

“So…” Fuyuhiko tapped on the table. “Are you bastards going to tell us what the fuck happened? Didn’t we all kind of fucking die?”

“Um, yes, I think…” Chiaki didn’t mean to say the last part, it was sort of routine. “Sorry, but you all died. We all died, actually…” The gamer sighed. “But, Hajime brought us back from the dead!” She gave a smile.

“B-but how?! H-how did he s-somehow bring us to life?!” Mikan was still very angry, Chiaki could kind of understand why a nurse would be frustrated about this sort of thing.

“Oh… um, Hajime?” Chiaki looked over at him, and he was visibly sweating, unlike the cold demeanor he had previously.

“Right- yes, er, an explanation for that…” Hajime stared, pressing his thumbs together on the table. He tapped on the table, as if he was waiting for something, then raised hand. “Ah, excuse me for a moment.” He clenched his teeth, almost angry. “I’ve gotta go do something.” 

He walked out the door, and Chiaki sighed, very loudly. How was she supposed to help out her friends if one of them kept being so mysterious? She smiled awkwardly at her class, wondering when Hajime was coming back. Did he expect her to know the answer of how he, a reserve course student, gave life to them all?

“Wow, Chiaki, I didn’t know you were friends with one of the reserve course students,” Oh no. Nagito was staring at her cynically.

“Wha- oh, yeah, Hajime is a great friend, he helps out a lot.” Chiaki was preparing herself for the worst.

“So… could you tell me how a reserve course student, a talentless, ultimate wannabe, brought us to life? Despite being trash?” There it was, the insults of Nagito Komaeda.

“He’s not trash! And-” Chiaki looked down. “I don’t know how he brought us back to life,” She sighed. “He’s been acting differently, too.” Did she say that out loud?

“Differently? How does your friend normally act?” Sonia asked, tilting her head at Chiaki.

“Well- he wasn’t so cold, I think. He was just unfriendly instead of… that.” Chiaki tapped her chin. “I wonder what happened? There was that stretch of time where he sorta… fell off the side of the earth?” The gamer shrugged.

“Wait- hold up, ya became friends with an unfriendly guy?” Kazuichi scratched the side of his head. 

“He wasn’t so unfriendly! Kind of… but, he’s a nice person when you get to know him. Somehow.” 

The door opened, and Hajime walked back in with almost a glare on his face. He sat down opposite to Chiaki, folding his arms and almost acting as if he would rather be anywhere else. With a long, aggravated-sounding sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose and glared up at all of them.

“You want to know how I brought you all back?” His voice was monotonous again, Chiaki didn’t like it.

“An explanation would be nice,” Peko said, a skeptical stare aimed at Hajime.

“Who cares for an explanation, as long as we’re all alive and together!” Nekomaru said pridefully.

“Yeah, I agree with Coach- now where’s the kitchen in this place?” Akane leaned in, with a large grin.

“I’ll explain anyway- the quicker I do, the quicker I get out of here,” Hajime huffed, crossing his arms again. What did that mean, Chiaki wondered, did he not want to be near them? “Alright,” Hajime started again, “How about you all check for a pulse on yourself?”

Chiaki obliged, pressing her index and middle finger against her wrist. She waited. And waited. There was nothing, and she checked her neck instead, but the same result took place. Some of her friends expressed confused bewilderment.

“Don’t have one? That’s expected. You don’t need one.” Hajime leaned back in his chair. “You’re not running on blood, anymore. If you got cut or something, you’d probably not even bleed- well, actually, I’d give that one a few days to take in place.” He laughed, then went back to looking bored. “You wouldn’t even feel the pain of getting cut. If someone were to, let’s say, stab you, you wouldn’t feel a thing.” Mahiru looked very uncomfortable at that comment. “You wouldn’t die, you’d just have a knife poking out of your chest, wouldn’t that be a sight?” He laughed again. 

“Be a bit more respectful of what you say, will you?!” Mahiru wagged a finger at Hajime, her voice trying to sound authoritative but her face displayed discomfort.

“Right, right. Where was I?” Hajime rolled his eyes. “You all don’t need a heart, since you’re running on what I call Izuru’s Electricity-” Hajime then pinched himself, and he scowled.

“‘Izuru’s Electricity?’” Chiaki frowned.

“Isn’t that the given name of the founder of Hope’s Peak?” The imposter asked.

“...Yes. Him. Definitely.” Hajime snorted. “It’s almost like normal electricity, but I modified it. I basically shocked you all until you started moving again.”

“How the hell do you ‘modify’ electricity?” Fuyuhiko had his hands out in front of him, confusion in his squinting eyes.

“I just do.” Hajime waved his hand dismissively. “Any more questions or can we move on to your living arrangements? You are not staying here forever.” 

“Can Ibuki ask a question?!” Ibuki was waving her hand ecstatically and before Hajime could say anything, she just started talking. “Okay- who is Ryota now? Who is this guy?!” Ibuki was poking the imposter.

“That… is not relevant to anything I was saying.” Hajime sighed. “But I suppose they should know, shouldn’t they, Ultimate Imposter?” He smirked, staring at who Chiaki thought had been Ryota.

“‘Ultimate… Imposter?’” Chiaki sounded. “...I don’t get it.”

“I suppose I must explain myself.” The imposter pinched the bridge of their nose. “I am, indeed, the Ultimate Imposter. I have been pretending to be Ryota Mitarai since we all started at Hope’s Peak. There you go.”

“Wait- hold the fuck a minute,” Fuyuhiko argued. “You can’t just drop that on us and go on with your day, bastard!”

“Yeah, where’s the real Ryota Mitarai?” Mahiru questioned.

“Did you kill him and take his place?” Hiyoko asked, and gave a shrug when a weird look was thrown her way.

“No, and the real Ryota is fine. He agreed to me being him, afterall.” The imposter crossed their arms. “Are we done now?”

“YES! Can we be done now?” Hajime had his head in his hands. “God, if I have to be in this room for any longer, I’m going to scream-” He pinched himself, again. “...Anyway.”

Chiaki knew she was getting weird looks from her classmates about the sanity of her reserve course friend. She decided to ignore them for now. “Did you say something about living arrangements earlier?”

“Yes. I can pull a few tricks and get you all back into your dorms, again. It’ll be as if you never died,” Hajime smirked. 

“How are ya gonna pull that off?” Kazuichi raised a brow.

“I’m going to go through with a plan, duh.” Hajime, again, waved his hand dismissively. “I know my way around,”

“Oh? You do, do you?” Teruteru wiggled his eyebrows.

“Do you cook with that mindset?” Hajime huffed. “Anyway, I’ll get you all back into your dorms, and classroom, with no strings attached.” He snorted with laughter at the last part. 

“O-okay, I believe in you.” Chiaki nodded. “Um… one more question? Are there consequences to us being brought back from the dead?”

“...I don’t know, and I’m living for that.” Hajime chuckled ominously. “Oh, and I suppose I should mention,” He turned to look at Gundham. “Be careful with those hamsters, they tend to-” It was almost like right on cue, because when he said that, one of the hamsters seized up and fell stiffly from Gundham’s shoulder.

“Jum-P?” The breeder carefully picked up the stiff hamster.

“Yes, they tend to do that. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine, give it a couple of minutes.” Hajime smiled.

“If that’s what happens to the fucking hamsters, what the fuck is gonna happen to us?!” Fuyuhiko shouted.

“Again, I don’t know, and I can’t wait to find out,” Hajime laughed, then slumped his shoulders. “Right, I’ll go get a few things set up. You all can stay here.”

And so, they were left once more. Chiaki sighed, not knowing how long he was going to be gone for this time.

**_[Quest started! Acquire: Dorm rooms and classroom.]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, look at this, another chapter! Aren't I great at writing these on time and totally not in the morning of when it needs to be posted?   
> Thank you to rosered961 for putting up with me and proof-reading these for me...


	8. Consequences Are On Their Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hajime leads them back to their classroom, but they can't help but feel that there were... consequences to being brought back alive.

It had almost been a good few hours since Hajime left. He was right about the hamster, five minutes later Jum-P shook his fur and ran back up Gundham. Now, four hours later, everyone had dispersed to walking around the floor. They couldn’t go down the stairs- the doors were key-card locked, which raised a couple of questions of how Hajime got out. To Chiaki, she just wanted to know what happened in the time span of a week when Hajime went radio silent. He’d been here the whole time, probably, but why?

On the floor they were on, there was the board meeting room, a kitchen, a chemistry lab, an entomology lab and an indoor garden. Chiaki had too many questions about this place to count. It was as if someone could live here forever, not even needing to leave! She wondered what was on the other floors, if this floor seemed to be a sustainable living area.

Now, she was in the kitchen, watching Teruteru and Akane comically argue over the contents of the fridge. This made her wonder if they even needed to eat, she hadn’t felt hungry since waking up, and if she’d been out for three days… it was a bit confusing. The gamer continued to watch Teruteru criticise the kitchen utensils and Akane opening cupboards and fridges. Then, there was a crackle from over head as an intercom started.

“Could all undead students please enter the lobby? All stair doors have been unlocked for thirty minutes, SO GET DOWN HERE.” Hajime’s voice crackled overhead, and Chiaki nearly giggled at the familiarity of his annoyed, urgent tone.

She followed her friends down the staircase that seemed to stretch on forever. Finally, they reached the lobby, and Hajime was standing near the front door with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Chiaki looked to her left towards a reception desk and saw the receptionist- who looked more like a guard- knocked out. She really hoped they were just sleeping.

“Finally. You think you’d all be quicker when I have news.” Hajime huffed, then he smiled- an actual Hajime smile. “It’s sorta a split kind of thing. You know, bad news and good news.”

“Oh, oh! Tell us the good news!” Ibuki made a squeal kind of noise in excitement.

“Alright, I managed to convince the headmaster that you’re all alive.” Hajime smiled.

“Well, that is good.” Chiaki commented, although she wondered how he was able to do that much. 

“The fuck- how?” Fuyuhiko seemed to share the same confusion as Chiaki, only he voiced it aloud. 

“Yes, tell us Hajime, how did a lowly reserve course student convince the headmaster that an entire class didn’t die right before our teacher’s eyes?” Nagito asked, disgust very clear-cut in his tone. 

“...That’s the bad news. They- um, they think you did a very awful and undignified prank on the school and your teacher…” Hajime scratched the side of his head, almost pitying the class. 

“D-does this mean w-we lost the respect of M-Miss Yukizome…?” A very depressed-sounding Mikan lowered her head. 

At that, most of the students of Class 77-B also lowered their heads at the thought- even Chiaki. Chisa was one of the best teachers out there, and if they lost her respect, they wouldn’t even want to dream of it! Yet, a prank like that would certainly cost someone’s respect for the class, and Chiaki hoped that even if it is a lie, Miss Yukizome would forgive them all the same. Maybe they should do an all-together apology for it…

“But hey, at least you can still show your face around, right?” Hajime beamed at them. “Okay, you should actually get back to your class instead of the dorms. Me and Izu-” Hajime did an awkward cough. “I’ll help you all get past the head of security. There should be no further problems-” He suddenly had a cold demeanor, as if he could care less about anything. “That will be catastrophic, at least.”

Chiaki could barely take this switch in personality. She needed to find the perfect time once their move was done to ask Hajime a few important questions. But, for now, she followed Hajime through the entrance door, with the rest of the class behind her. If they couldn’t trust Hajime, they could always count on Chiaki to help them.

The sun was just over the horizon, and Chiaki wondered what time it could possibly be. It felt like they had been in the building for sixteen days, yet it had just been a night! They all followed Hajime as he continued to talk about how they can go about their lives like normal, despite dying once. Although, sometimes he switched to a monotonous voice to say things ominously, and it started to annoy the gamer.

Of course, nothing could go completely right for the students who had cheated death. Hajime had stopped them all while looking around a corner in the halls of the school, and Chiaki was also looking out as well. However, it was a bit hard when her friends constantly whispered to one another, and especially when a whisper argument just broke out between Hiyoko, Mikan and Mahiru. Chiaki sighed, trying to edge towards them.

“I’m just saying! Do you actually trip or is it for attention?” Hiyoko harshly muttered to Mikan.

“Uwaaah!” Mikan whined, but it was quiet somehow. “I-I don’t trip for a-attention! I-it’s all accidental, I-I swear!” She had her arms up in a weak defense.

“Hiyoko, just leave her alone, we have to be quiet, remember?” Mahiru muttered in annoyance. 

“But nobody can trip like that by accident!” Hiyoko shot back, her voice edging upward in volume. 

“Hiyoko!” Mahiru whisper-yelled.

Hiyoko rolled her eyes in annoyance, and seemed to give Mikan an agitated push, but somehow this made the nurse trip over her own feet. She pulled Hiyoko down with her with a thud, and started apologising, but was interrupted by a sickening crack. Chiaki froze, recognizing that noise immediately, and had to wrench herself from being at the top of those stairs to this moment in time. She rushed over, and covered her mouth at the sight of Hiyoko on the floor, but with her neck at an impossible angle.

This panic was almost short-lived, as Hiyoko just got back up with her neck broken. “Hey, why’d you do that you nasty piece of-” She seemed to stop, rubbing at her neck. “Mahiruuu, Mikan made me fall and now my neck feels weird.”

“A-are you sure it just feels weird?” Mahiru responded, a look of shock written on her face.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Hiyoko made a pouty face, and Chiaki nearly jumped when Hajime just seemed to appear there.

“Oh,” There was that monotonous voice again. “Well, would you look at that? I told you all won’t be able to die. Although, how did a simple fall- maybe it’s a side-effect?” He walked over calmly to Hiyoko, and placed his hands on either side of her head.

“Hey! What are you doing you cre-” Snap! Hiyok’s eyes went wide when her head was snapped back into place. “...What?”

“There,” Hajime went back towards the corner. “The rest of you can enjoy the fact that something like that might happen to you.”

Chiaki looked from Hiyoko, who was rubbing her neck and talking to Mahiru in confusion, to Hajime, who was turning the corner already. She sighed and signalled for the rest of her friends to follow, even though some of them didn’t look so good after seeing that display. She could understand their worry, Hajime just told them that something like it could happen to them. Was it because they died?

They entered the classroom that they had left behind, and saw flowers upon all their desks and the memorial at the back. Hajime had ushered them all inside and took out a phone, dialing a number. After he dialed, he just walked back outside and closed the door on all of them so they couldn’t follow. This gave them time to think of what was going to happen next.

“So, that guy said he had to tell them that we did a twisted prank, right?” Mahiru started. “This means we should follow through and do an apology.”

“I fuckin’ guess we have to, or else we’d be seen as assholes,” Fuyuhiko agreed, sitting on top of his desk- probably to be eye level with everyone.

“But how do we know this guy isn't messing with us and is just going to like, put us out on display like science experiments for the world to see?” Hiyoko didn’t look too high in spirits, but who was?

Seeing that her friends were actually going to agree with what Hiyoko suggested, Chiaki puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. “But we can trust Hajime, I think. He’s a good friend, and he’s reliable. He wouldn’t do anything that would harm us in any way.” She then added, a bit pleading. “If you can’t trust him, trust me.”

Silence hung in the air for a moment, and Chiaki only hoped she was able to convince them a little bit. The door then clicked open, and even though they were just talking about a plan for apology, they all still froze after seeing Chisa enter the room behind Hajime.

**_[+Dread, fear and anxiety gained!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It Is On Time What Do You Mean?  
> Another chapter done, another one on its way! Woo woo!  
> I can't wait to get more into the consequences.  
> Also, if you guys can tell me what tags might be appropriate, that would be cool, because I don't know how to tag.


	9. It Was All A Prank, We Swear!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crying. A lot of crying- and then Chisa going into teacher mode.

Chiaki almost immediately teared up upon seeing their teacher. She didn’t know what to do. They didn’t plan anything for their teacher, not a note or apology, they were just about to say something about it. It was completely silent in the room, not a sound to be made, and if Chiaki could really listen, a pin drop could be heard. Chisa also stared at the students back, her eyes watery and jaw gaping wide, and the gamer couldn’t blame her. She’d cry too if people she thought were dead were actually alive. 

Without thinking, Chiaki started to try and apologize. “Miss Yukizome…” But before she could get any more out, the teacher collapsed onto her knees, sobbing.

“I-I thought you all-” She sobbed, and Chiaki felt immensely bad, even if it was for a fake reason. She felt bad for dying in the first place.

“We-” Chiaki felt tears down her own face. “We’re sorry- I’m sorry!” She choked up on her tears.

“We’re so sorry Miss Yukizome! We shoulda never-” Kazuichi started crying as well.

“God, we’re so fucking stupid!” Fuyuhiko punched the desk he was sitting on.

“Ibuki is sorry for whatever I’ve done!” Ibuki cried out.

“We-we’re so sorry!” The imposter, who somehow put on a Ryota mask, stammered.

They all began to talk over each other, most of them crying or had tears running down their face, there was no mistaking the forgiveness they yearned for. If they went along with the prank plan, that means they lost respect from one of the most valued adults in their life. Chisa wasn’t just a teacher to them, she was like a friend! And Chiaki would be damned if she didn’t fear the fact that Chisa might view them all differently!

The teacher opened up her arms, and Chiaki was the first to practically latch on, and so did Sonia. Then, all of the 77-th class were hugging onto Chisa, tears going down all of their faces. Chiaki was one of the last to let go of the group hug, wiping the tears from her face. She felt so guilty, even if it wasn’t the complete truth. 

“I-I forgive you all, just never pull something like that again!” Chisa said, standing up and smiling at them. “I’m just glad you’re all alive!”

“Yes, you all should’ve known better.” Chiaki stared in confusion as the headmaster, Jin Kirigiri, walked in, looking stern.

Apparently everyone else was confused, because they all were staring at him. Why was he here? What did Hajime say that needed the headmaster to walk in? Chiaki hoped that he didn’t say the prank was worse than she already thought.

“I hope you all know that…” He side-eyed Hajime, who was looking back at him. “...what you did was very irresponsible, and disrespectful to not only Chisa, but to everyone. I know you are a rowdy class, but a prank such as this? And getting actors to work as emergency team members in ambulances?” He crossed his arms, shaking his head solemnly. “You’re all going to have to work on your assignments tenfold if you want to earn back the credits you’re losing for this.”

Chiaki was slightly relieved that this was the punishment, as for them assignments were basically working and excelling at their talents. But she couldn’t shake off the weird feeling from seeing the look the headmaster gave Hajime every now and then. The biggest question she had was how Hajime was able to convince them all that they pulled such a joke- she really needed to find the time to ask.

“Now that you all know what you did was inexcusable, I will be telling you about…” He looked at Hajime again, Chiaki noted that the gaze was that of a nervous civilian, but nervous about what? “A transfer student. Class 77-B, this is Hajime Hinata, The Ultimate Student Counselor and your new classmate.” What? “Please treat him with respect, but if that… prank you pulled was anything of note, you might need a new lesson on it.”

He left it at that, and Headmaster Kirigiri walked out of the classroom. Chiaki stared at the door, then at Hajime, who was smirking at her. She stared back at Chisa, who was wiping her tears with a small smile.

“Ah… yes, we have a new student joining us. Hinata, actually, was the one who told me and Kirigiri of your prank, and he even told us about his involvement in it.” Chisa seemed to be collecting herself. 

“Wait, so yer tellin’ me we’re stuck with this guy?!” Kazuichi looked creeped out by Hajime, and Chiaki couldn’t understand why. 

“I must agree with Kazuichi, when was he an Ultimate?” Nagito seemed to be sulking. “Of course, Ultimates can be overlooked which is such a sad thought… but…” He seemed to be glaring at Hajime almost.

“Well, I have to say that I’m not too glad about being stuck with a few boring personalit-” Hajime seemed to cut himself off by pinching his cheek really hard. “I meant… glad to be here.”

“Yes, isn’t this exciting?” Chisa tilted her head, then glared at them all. “Now, I hope you all know that I am extremely disappointed in all of you. I might just take up what Headmaster Kirigiri said and teach you all about respect and what is an appropriate level of jokes!” Her hands were on her hips and her glare seemed to burn into all of their souls.

Chiaki looked at the rest of her class with a long face, and they all nodded at each other. They then all bowed deeply towards Chisa, and in unison- as best as possible, anyway-, apologised; “I’m sorry, Miss Yukizome.” 

“...Thank you, students. Now… you might want to go to your dorms and change. Please try to be here in at least an hour, okay?” Chisa smiled at them, and they nodded back. 

Chiaki rushed to her dorm, not wanting to lose any more of her teacher’s respect. She walked into her simple dorm, then started reeling from the questions that were running in her head. Throughout the night, she never even thought about the fact that she _had died_. She couldn’t even remember it, all she knew was that her vision had gone bleary, she had felt very cold and then… nothing. 

With wide eyes, she sat down on her bed, staring into her floor. She had died, then had been brought to life. _She had died, as in gone, forever._ The next thing she had known, she was waking up, right? Then what was before that? What was after the nothing? Could she truly not remember? Or… was there nothing?

She shook her head, realizing she had been shivering from those thoughts. All she needed to focus on was the present, especially what questions she was going to ask Hajime. Getting up, she went and changed out of the clothes she died in, and stepped out of her dorm. Then, she went back in and grabbed a game girl and a copy of her favorite space shooter. 

As she was walking back to class, an idea formed in her head. She took out her phone to message Hajime, but realized she could just talk to him when she reached class. He was going to the main building now, apparently, but was a bit skeptical. She’ll ask him about it, later, like with everything else.

Entering the classroom, only a few people were there before her, and she spotted Hajime pretty quickly. He was writing something in a small, black notebook while eyeing the others. Odd behavior, as Hajime never seemed to care about others, but he probably wasn’t documenting them at all.

“Hey, hey.” Chiaki greeted as she walked over. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Huh? What is it?” He tilted his head, his face seemingly switching between bored and confused.

“Can we still meet up at the fountain after class?” She asked, her hands holding onto her book bag straps. 

“Of course! Why would that change?” Hajime gave a bit of a chuckle. 

“No reason, I guess since you’re going to my class now I was a bit skeptical.” Chiaki smiled back. “Glad we’re not changing it.”

“Yeah, me too.” Hajime answered back, almost beaming at her.

After that, Chiaki stayed a bit silent, playing her game girl. Everyone started coming in, and then Chisa began an unusually boring lecture about responsibility.

**_[-Respect and trust lost!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not uploading on Friday!  
> Oh wowie, Chiaki had a breakdown for a sec there!  
> And, because I feel bad for not uploading anything on Friday, the next Chapter is called: "Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun"!


	10. Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hajime has something to tell Chiaki, in private.

After a day being lectured about responsibility, respect and what is appropriate to joke about, the class was released at the end. Chiaki had felt horrible during the whole thing, guilt gnawing at her even if the only thing she had done was die. She shook it away, trying to stay focused. She walked towards the fountain, determination in every step. Then, she waited.

Hajime appeared around ten minutes later, and Chiaki stared at him. He seemed alarmed by something when he walked over.

“Are you okay?” He asked, looking worried.

“Huh? Yeah, why?” Chiaki was feeling very persistent, though.

“Oh… you just look… sad.” Hajime commented. “In fact, are those tears?”

“What do you mean?” She wiped at her eyes, and found wetness on her sleeve. “But I’m not feeling unhappy.”

“Hmm… you did die by heartbreak…” Hajime mumbled under his breath, to where Chiaki nearly missed it.

“What does that have to do with my crying?” Chiaki furrowed her brows.

“Oh, nothing- just a theory I’m working on. Um… what did you want to talk about today?” 

Chiaki sprung on the chance, and started bombarding him by sheer accident. “How did you bring us back to life? How did you get the ability to do that? How did you get the headmaster to get you in our class? Why do you sometimes not act like yourself? Where were you during those days I kept waiting? Wh-” She was interrupted.

“Chiaki! Please!” Hajime had his hands in the air. “Not all at once! I understand you’re confused and probably have a lot of questions- so did your classmates. I couldn’t leave the room after you left because of a lot of them!” He sighed, looking at the ground. “I… can answer a few of them. But! Not the ones about my disappearance, and as I feel guilty about it, I just… can’t.” He looked frustrated, and stared at the ground.

“Oh… okay. Um…” Chiaki tapped her chin. “Let’s start with… on how you got the headmaster to let you join our class as the Ultimate Student Counselor, I think.”

“What? Did you think I was always going to be talentless?” He started really defensively. “Maybe they just didn’t notice my ability to read others’ emotions pretty well.”

“...Hajime, I didn’t mean it like that. You just kept saying how talentless you were before…” She sighed. That was a bad start to her ‘investigation’. “...How about you tell me more on how you brought us to life?”

“Well… this is going to sound a little weird.” Hajime seemed to be a bit more collected. “I modified electricity to sort of… jumpstart your brains?” 

“...You modified electricity?” Chiaki tilted her head, grasping at her book bag straps again.

“Yes. It was… an experience. I just… wanted you back, is all.” Hajime sighed, and looked back at her. 

“Oh…” She smiled. “Thank you.” Then, she asked her next question. “Why do you sometimes act like… someone else?”

Hajime started sweating almost instantly. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know… sometimes you act cold and distant- and even bored. Is something going on, Hajime?” She was genuinely concerned.

“...I can’t… tell you.” He then sighed very, very deeply. “It’s on the level of the reason why I can’t tell you why I disappeared…”

“But why can’t you tell me?” Chiaki furrowed her brows, feeling very puzzled and a bit hurt. 

“I want to, because dealing with… this…” He clenched his teeth, looking very annoyed. “On my own is aggravating, but they told me to keep it a secret from others.”

Chiaki tried to take note of every word he was saying, trying to piece together a conclusion from what he said so far. “Who’s telling you to keep it a secret?”

“...The Steering Committee.” Hajime answered, looking around with cautious eyes.

“Huh? But why?” Chiaki wanted to uncover more of this. She needed to know!

“I… I really shouldn’t tell you.” Hajime then looked very bored, his posture changing to a bit of a slouch, his voice coming off cold- the change Chiaki had been noticing. “Come on, Hajime. Tell her.” 

“H-Hajime?” Why was he speaking in third person like Ibuki sometimes did? 

“If you don’t, I will.” Hajime seemed shaken by his- those words, and he straightened. “Okay. You know what? Yeah, I’ll tell you Chiaki! Just… don’t tell anyone else. I’ve only ever told the headmaster of this.”

“You- you had to tell the headmaster something about the Steering Committee?” Chiaki thought that the headmaster always knew what they did. 

“Yeah, because this involved a project.” Hajime then seemed to smile apologetically. “You might be a bit annoyed with me, though.”

“I promise, I won’t be.” Chiaki reassured him, then sat down on the fountain to listen to what Hajime was going to tell her.

“Alright. This started a couple of weeks ago. I know you said talent wasn’t everything, but I wanted to be someone you could be proud to be friends with.” Chiaki was about to say something to dispel that, but Hajime cut her off. “Listen, I just felt that I didn’t mean much if I was talentless. That’s why I agreed to the Hope Cultivation Plan- or the Kamukura Project.” He looked down, as if he couldn’t bear to look into Chiaki’s eyes. “I agreed to basically be genetically modified to become the Ultimate Hope. But… I realized halfway through I didn’t want it anymore. I guess that led to a mishappening… and…”

Suddenly, Hajime smirked, only the red eye being open. “He got stuck with me.” Then, that smile fell. “Hello, I’m Izuru Kamukura- or what would’ve been of Hajime if he didn’t stick around like he did.”

“U-uh…” Chiaki tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“My name is Izuru Kamukura- like the second half to Hajime he never wanted.” Hajime- or ‘Izuru’- rolled his eyes. “At first, it was intriguing. He was supposed to be completely rid of, but he stuck around. But now… he’s boring.”

“W-wait- you’re two people now?!” Chiaki tried to understand- but it was a bit outlandish.

“..Yeah…” Hajime answered. “Izuru is the talented, and I’m the talentless. He was the one who brought you back from the dead and convinced people you all were pulling a prank. He was also the one to get me into Hope’s Peak’s main course- only because he wanted to document any side effects you all have.”

Chiaki stared into the ground, almost unable to believe… yet it would explain it all. “Y-you’re still Hajime, though, right?”

“Well- yes. I never left, like I apparently was supposed to.”

Wiping away all doubt. “Th-then you’re still my friend. And even though it was kind of stupid of you-” Hajime let out a cold chuckle. “You’re still Hajime. Just… with another person.”

“...Thanks. Don’t tell anyone, please.” Hajime looked at her, seriousness in his gaze.

“Of course not, I just hope you can hide him well.” Chiaki bit her fingernail a bit.

“I’ll try…” Hajime snorted. “But he’s so annoying- he thinks he needs to speak his opinion on everything.” He bursted out in laughter after that- and Chiaki joined him.

Afterward, they began to play video games- like the good old times.

**_[Izuru Kamukura revealed himself and refused to join your party!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda wonder if I rushed Hajime telling Chiaki, then I realized Izuru would probably think there might be something enjoyable about someone else knowing. Guess he was wrong.  
> Also, I wonder why Chiaki is crying?


	11. Around The Corner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems some people are having trouble. Wonder why?

“And I hope you all know Headmaster Kirigiri added that he wanted you all to make progress reports on your assignments as well…” Chisa explained, halfway through a class. A lot of groans of protest sounded, and she just shook her head. “Maybe if you didn’t pull such a mean prank, you wouldn’t have gotten this much work.” She suddenly pulled out her phone as it started to ring, and she raised a finger. “Excuse me.” She stepped outside, shutting the door.

At first, nobody really spoke, until Teruteru did. “So- er, did anyone come to terms with the fact that they died and came back? Because it’s still messin’ with me.” 

It was almost as if a collective moment happened between all of them. Chiaki thought it would be classified as a ‘What the absolute fuck’ moment, as that’s what a lot of them said aloud. 

“Teruteru, dude, why would ya remind us?” Kazuichi had turned to look at the chef, an overwhelmed look on his face.

“Why would you bring that up?” Akane genuinely asked, very perplexed.

“We were having a nice, quiet moment, but no, _we couldn’t because of you_.” Mahiru also turned to look at Teruteru, glaring at him.

“Wh-what? I was just tryna figure out if you all came to terms with your death ‘cause I sure have not!” His voice started having a southern accent, but it died down at the end. 

“The fleeting darkness that is death is something one can never recover from, even if they managed to trick their ever panicked mind that all is settled. In all honesty, humans can only trick themselves for so long, and soon the mind will start asking questions, each more petrifying than the last, until the mortal snaps under the pressure.” Gundham spoke in a low voice, his stare straight ahead, yet his gaze a thousand miles away.

The classroom grew a bit silent, before Fuyuhiko broke it this time. “Are you fucking okay?” 

“That was a bit heavy, don’t you think Gundham?” Nagito said in a slightly hesitant manner.

“...But he’s sorta right?” Hajime pointed out. “I mean, I think? If you don’t start realizing that you’re all hung up about the fact that you died, you might experience side-effects from it.”

Some of Chiaki’s friends were going to argue with him- she could tell-, but Chisa walked in, apologizing for her absence, and resumed class. Everything was going on as if nothing had happened, and Chiaki couldn’t help but feel glad. Although they were all shaken a little, and a bit quiet today, that didn’t mean they couldn’t go on with their… not-lives like normal, right? 

While in the middle of everyone having a bit of a ‘break time’ because of the assignments they had to write- Chisa wasn’t that cruel-, Chiaki’s gaze wandered towards their teacher as she talked to Hajime. She was greeted back with, at first, a warm smile, then a worried look as she began making her way over to them. Was something wrong?

“Do you like any other type of shooter game besides Galaga?” Hajime was in the middle of asking, and Chiaki turned her attention back to him.

“Well, yeah, I think. But Galaga is a classic, you know?” Chiaki gave a small smile, and Hajime chuckled.

Then, Chisa was right next to them. “Chiaki? Are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, I think. Why?” The gamer couldn’t find a reason for her not to be okay. She nonchalantly wiped at her face, something she had been doing a lot lately. 

“You seem a little down today.” Chisa said, going through her apron’s pocket and pulling out a handkerchief. “And there’s tears going down your face.”

“Tears?” Was that what she was always having to wipe away? “Oh, I’m sorry, I think it’s because I’m tired.” While that usually was the case, she never shed tears because of sleepiness. 

“Hm… alright. But have this anyway.” Chisa put the white cloth in Chiaki’s hand, who in turn thanked her for it.

The gamer watched the teacher walk away, and then turned to Hajime. “Hajime? Does it look like I’ve been crying?”

“Um…” The… student counselor scratched the back of his neck. “Not only that, Chiaki, you look as if you’re always crying.” He looked thoughtful for a moment, then took something out. It was a small, handheld mirror that Chiaki would not question why it was on his person. “See?”

Chiaki took the mirror and looked at her reflection. Her eyes were dull, and watery, and tears seemed to go over the brink every now and then. Her face seemed to have a sad look to it, and when she tried to smile, it just seemed as if she was barely holding herself together. Confused, Chiaki gave Hajime his mirror back, and tried to think. Could this be those side-effects? Like Hiyoko’s neck re-snapping?

“Why do I look like this?” Chiaki wondered aloud. “I’m not even sad.”

“Well... “ Hajime looked around and leaned in a bit, his voice becoming a whisper. “Izuru had been working on something, but he doesn’t want me to tell anyone yet until someone else displays symptoms.”

“Symptoms?” Chiaki didn’t like the sound of that.

“Um… side-effects, like the hamsters?” Hajime explained a bit better, and Chiaki made a small ‘oh’ sound.

Just as Chiaki was about to say something else, a horrible sound started from near the middle of the classroom. A horrible, choking sound. The sound of someone choking to death. Chiaki almost immediately got up, trying to see what was happening. She saw it, Nagito had his head tossed back, and the sound he was making was similar to that of a choking man. 

“Nagito?!” Chisa said in alarm, and rushed over to the lucky student.

The choking sound almost instantly stopped, and he looked at her with a tilted head. “Yes?” His voice seemed more raspy than normal.

“Dude, ya sounded as if you were choking,” Kazuichi, along with most of the class, had turned to see what was happening.

“Oh, I’m sorry if I disrupted the wonderful conversations you Ultimates-” He slowly looked at Hajime. “-were having.”

“N-Nagito, it really s-sounded as if you needed h-help!” Mikan had rushed to Nagito’s side when he sounded as if he was dying… again.

“Sorry, I just found something hilarious!” He began choking again, though it seemed like he was trying to stifle it.

Chiaki furrowed her brows. “Wait, you were laughing?”

“...Of course! But it’s so great to see that people care about trash like me-” Chisa slammed her hand on his desk to interrupt him, then cleared her throat threateningly. “Right, I meant it’s great to see that people care about me.”

“Of course we’d care about you! It was a bit… frightening to hear you laugh like that, though…” Chiaki tapped her chin. That wasn’t how Nagito usually laughed, it didn’t sound as if he was unable to breath.

“Then I’m sorry for giving you all a fright like that! I was just laughing, but if you want me to try and not laugh-”

“No, no! It’s fine, you can laugh! It was just kind of worrying, but now we know you’re laughing.” Chiaki reassured him.

With a few mumbles and a concerned Chisa checking him over again, class resumed- or talking to each other resumed. Chiaki couldn’t get the sound of Nagito choking out of her head- how was that laughing!? And wasn’t his laugh more like an actual human laugh than that? She was probably overthinking it. People always had new laughter, right?

The room was stock-full of chatter, some people had gotten up to be with their closer friends also, and everyone was just generally having a good time despite the hiccups. Chiaki always loved seeing her friends hang out together without any arguments or anything. Sometimes, she had to say, there were problems within the class between students, but they didn’t tear friendships apart. She at least hoped they didn’t.

They were having an in-class lunch together, Teruteru made it- although he was a bit hesitant to be in the kitchen without the floor being completely clear. It was delicious as always, and they were all sitting on a picnic blanket on the floor, having pushed the desks to the side. There was a lot of laughter, and Chiaki didn’t know when, but Chisa had to walk out for a moment because of another phone call and put Chiaki in charge. 

Then, somewhere between Hajime telling a joke and Chiaki laughing, there was a loud crash near the back. Alarmed, she looked up and saw Kazuichi looking incredibly freaked out as he stared down. The way he was standing was a little worrying, as he was leaned towards the side with a plate in his hand, and the other was hanging limply. The cause of the noise was a different plate breaking onto the ground.

“A-are you okay?!” Mikan shouted, looking as if she was in the middle of getting up.

“Uh, yeah, I j-” He was interrupted by… him dropping the other plate as that arm hung limply at his side. He shrieked as the plate broke.

“Hey, bastard, why did you just drop it?!” Fuyuhiko, who was close to the plate breaking, scooted back.

“I-I didn’t mean to!” The mechanic seemed to be leaning backward.

“What the hell do you mean, you didn’t mean to?! You clearly just fucking dropped them!” Fuyuhiko glared, his arm still in front of his face.

“N-no, really! My arms just stopped working!” Kazuichi looked as if he was starting to panic.

“H-huh?” Chiaki tilted her head as the mechanic really started to panic.

“I-I can’t feel my arms! Or hands! Actually anything above my waist is numb and I can’t feel it what thefuckisgoingonsomeonepleasehelpme.” Kazuichi started speaking too quickly to where Chiaki could barely understand him. 

“Kazuichi, p-please calm down, let m-me help you!”Mikan cried out, already by the mechanic’s side, who was still freaking out.

“Oh, would you look at that,” Hajime- no, Izuru- said. “His entire upper half stopped working.”

“No shit, what are you, the ultimate fucking detective?!” Fuyuhiko crossed his arms, staring Hajime down.

“Mmmm,” Hajime- Izuru- looked as if he wanted to say something else, but didn’t. Instead, he said, “No, but I think there’s one in the class below you.”

“Shut it.” Fuyuhiko snorted. 

Chiaki put her attention back on the whole Kazuichi situation, and saw that Mikan had one of his dangly arms in hand, and had rolled up the sleeve. A lot of them had bruises or even horrific injuries they had to hide, with Kazuichi having his sleeves down to his wrists and Teruteru having bandages on his face saying it was just a little accident. It was still unbearable to look at the reminders of her classmate’s deaths, though.

“H-have you exhausted th-the muscles at all?!” Mikan asked, poking Kazuichi’s arm.

Kazuichi stared at her for a good few moments, sweat going down his face. “O-oh, like with mechanic stuff, no! I barely did any work yesterday!” 

“B-but there’s nothing else out o-of place!” Mikan let go of his arm, and it swayed back and forth.

“It looks like a hanging tire swing.” Hiyoko sneered, and Mahiru somehow looked shocked at the initial situation yet disappointed in Hiyoko at the same time.

“It’s like when Ibuki forgets to put a plug away and it just sways!” Ibuki cupped her own face.

“We just need to figure out what the matter is, correct?” Sonia pointed out. “But what could be causing the total failure of limbs?”

“Maybe his body is rejecting the fact that he’s alive, and it’s trying to correct itself by reminding him of what he should be like due to his death,” Hajime had taken out a book by now, a leatherbound book with a gold title that had nothing to do with the situation at hand.

“What does that mean?” ‘Ryota’ looked stern at him.

“It means you all should be thinking of how your body will reject the fact that you’re alive.” He flipped a page in his book, snorting and mumbling some along the lines of ‘so predictable’.

“Does that mean I’m going to re-die?!” Kazuichi started panicking even more, he didn’t even notice that his hand shot up to clutch his beanie.

“O-oh, they’re working again!” Mikan looked as if she was seconds away from shouting in anger, despite the tone of voice.

“See? It wasn’t permanent.” ‘Hajime’ said, turning the page again and rolling his eyes at the contents.

“So you’re saying we’re all going to experience this shit?” Fuyuhiko looked pissed off.

“Yes. So I’d prepare if I were you, just in case, they could be right around the corner.” He gave a small, nonchalant chuckle.

He left it at that, he just continued silently reading. Chiaki felt a disturbance in the air, wondering if everything could ever be the same. What was going to happen to them?

**_[Ominous music is playing in the distance!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huehuehuehuuuuuuu  
> I have plots, I swear  
> And what Kazuichi says just in case you can't see it well, is "what thefuckisgoingonsomeonepleasehelpme"


	12. Electrifying!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ibuki has new superpowers! Muhaahaha- oh dear god save us all.

Chisa came back after her phone call and asked why Kazuichi was cleaning up broken glass, he just replied that it was an accident. Even though everything seemed alright now, the class was much quieter than before. They all sat the desks back in place and resumed doing the assignment they had been given as punishment for the totally real prank they pulled.

However, Chiaki couldn’t focus. Her vision kept blurring and she had to keep wiping away tears that had no rhyme or reason for being there. It was annoying, very, very annoying. Before long, there were teardrops on her paper and she wanted to bang her head on the table, but she won’t. Not yet, anyway. A lot of students were audibly expressing their resentment of this paper they had to write.

Chisa was in the middle of explaining how they might get their assignment done by the school fair event, when Hajime secretly handed Chiaki a note like they were in middle school. It read ‘Fuyuhiko had a sister named Natsumi correct?’ Chiaki looked over at him, confused, but wrote an answer anyway. She handed it back, and Hajime looked at it, nodded, and put the note away in his pocket. After that weird exchange, Chisa’s phone rang, _again_ , and she had to excuse herself.

Before she could leave, Hajim- _Izuru_ , slyly grinned. “Oh? I wonder who keeps calling you, it must be really important…” Chisa looked at him, a bit confused.

“Of course it’s important. Now behave, hopefully this is the last time…” She mumbled something as she went out of the class.

Chiaki rolled her eyes at Hajime, who shrugged. Silence stretched across the classroom before whispers started picking up. Just the usual teacher-out-of-the-class chatter, only some of it was about death and what happened. That was, until Ibuki excitedly got up and started shouting.

“Oh, oh! Ibuki has something cool to show you all!” She grabbed her bag and took out a box of glass light bulbs. 

“...Why do you have light bulbs on hand?” The imposter asked, and Ibuki just shushed him.

She opened the pack, carefully taking one out, then put up a finger. “Now- watch!” She held the light bulb by the screw-in part, and after a few seconds, it flickered on. “See? See! I have superpowers now!”

“Oh jeez, what kind of superpower is powering a light bulb?” Hiyoko jived, and Ibuki stuck out her tongue.

“It’s… interesting, to say the least.” Chiaki tried. It was a bit cool, though.

“Oh! Not only that! Does someone have an uncharged phone?” Ibuki asked, going through her bag again.

“I suppose I do...” Mahiru held up her phone, and Ibuki reached over and grabbed it. 

“Now watch! Watch!” Ibuki grabbed a charger and plugged it into the phone, then held the other end. The phone lit up with a charging symbol.

“I gotta hand it to ya, that is kinda cool.” Kazuichi commented, his voice still shaken up about what happened earlier. “Ya think it’ll work on different stuff? Like jump startin’ a car?”

“I dunno, but I plan to use these powers for evil.” Ibuki nodded as if matter-of-factly, but Chiaki was more-so focused on the light bulb she was still holding now. It was becoming really bright and starting to buzz really loud.

“Um? Ibuki?” She tried to catch her attention.

“Can I have my phone back, please?” Mahiru asked, and Ibuki nodded.

“Here ya go!” She handed back the phone, but didn’t let go of the light bulb.

“Ow! You shocked me!” Mahiru held her hand close to her.

“Oh, sorry. Wait- no, Ibuki uses her powers for evil! Muhahahaha!” Ibuki laughed an actual laugh near the end.

“Ibuki! Let go of the light bulb!” The imposter yelled, but it was too late.

The light bulb exploded in Ibuki’s hand, and shards of glass went flying. Chiaki felt a piece lodge in her hand from her protecting her face. No pain accompanied it, and she didn’t like that feeling of discomfort. Ibuki had wide eyes, and Chiaki saw her picking up the box of light bulbs to put it away. But those light bulbs flickered on. And exploded as well.

Smoke filled the classroom for a moment as glass was sent everywhere, nobody was safe. Chiaki then practically threw herself on top of Hajime, realizing that they might have died and can’t anymore, but Hajime was still at risk! People were screaming, and as the smoke had cleared very quickly, the gamer sat up and winced at the state of the classroom.

Shards were everywhere, some people had glass in them, and some desks were overturned. One desk was blocking the door, and the doorknob was jiggling. She looked down to see Hajime, who was getting up with a hand to his head. Then, she went over to the door, looking back at her classmates who seemed a bit disturbed at pulling glass out of their arms and such. Mikan was rushing around, trying to help everyone take them out the proper way. 

“Students?” Chisa called. “Are you alright in there? Can you open the door!” 

Thinking of an excuse quickly, Chiaki cleared her throat. “Um, everything’s fine! The door is just, uh, a little jammed! We’re fixing it from our side!”

“Hurry, please, I heard a loud bang?” 

“That was Nekomaru and Akane fighting again!” Chiaki hoped for her to fall for it. She hated lying to their teacher, but she couldn’t let her find out!

“Uwaaah!” Mikan suddenly yelled, hovering over Ibuki. “I-Ibuki! I c-can’t help you i-if you keep shocking me!”

“Ibuki doesn’t know how to control her newfound superpower! Ooh, this gave me a song idea- wait, there’s glass in my eye.” Ibuki tried to remove the glass herself, which seemed to upset Mikan, and the nurse shooed her hand away and went on to help the rockstar.

Chiaki looked over at others who weren’t close to Ibuki, and saw that they were sort of fine. Better, to say the least. The gamer sighed in relief, everyone was going to be okay, that’s what Izuru said, right? They couldn’t re-die? So, anything could happen to them? Surely there were limits? Chiaki didn’t want to think about the limits.

“Guys, we have to clean up, I don’t know how long a jammed door excuse can work…” She stated, already trying to overturn the few desks people knocked over in surprise. 

Nekomaru and Akane helped with that task, as Chiaki didn’t have the best strength. Gundham and his hamsters helped Sonia clean up the burn marks that were strewn about the desks and floor- and even the ceiling. The rest were busy plucking glass out of their skin and cleaning the shards away. Chisa kept trying to open the door, which was the last task they needed to do. With the classroom now cleared away of any sign of mistake, Nekomaru lifted the desk and put it back where it was from.

Chisa practically barged in. “Is everything alright? Is everyone okay?” She was looking around frantically.

“Mhm! Everything’s fine here, I think.” Chiaki also looked around, just in case.

“Hmm. I thought I heard something blow up… alright. Oh,” Chisa had furrowed her eyebrows together in thought. “Ibuki? Why is your eye covered in bandages?”

“Uhhhhh, I accidentally stuck a pencil in it!” Ibuki seemed proud of that very quickly thought up response. “Aaaand, it hurt a lot! But it seemed like a good idea! So Ibuki did it!” Ibuki was a bit loopy-sounding. And really giggly.

“...Don’t… don’t do that. That’s um, not very good for you to do.” Chisa facepalmed. 

Chiaki had gone back to her desk as Chisa started up class again. If they were lucky, no other mishaps would happen today. Ibuki blowing up a bunch of lightbulbs was a bit concerning… and the fact that she started to seem more out of it. More out of it than usual. 

The rockstar had leaned towards the imposter, and was whispering something to them. Chiaki didn’t want to eavesdrop, but she was still worried about Ibuki. So, she leaned a bit forward, trying to hear but not alert Chisa.

“-And you are Ibuki’s greatest friend, you know that?” Ibuki was saying, with giggles coming out every now and then.

“Mhm, alright. How about you start paying attention?” The imposter seemed a little fed up.

“Pay attention to what? Oh, are we in class? Ooh, I forgot about that part.” Ibuki giggled, again.

She seemed to be fine, Chiaki thought. It was just how Ibuki was. Feeling as if her friend was okay, Chiaki went back to listening to Chisa. Hopefully class will end before anything else weird happens.

**_[Achievement Get: Shocking Results!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, there's only one major chapter left that revolves around the side-effects.  
> Next is a three chapter-long arc of new students joining their class!


	13. Water Under The Bridge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of side-effects to being dead, aren't there?

Class had finally ended without any more mishappenings. Chiaki was still reeling from all the light bulbs exploding, and she flopped down on her bed in exhaustion. Hajime said he had something to do and that he couldn’t make it to the fountain, or maybe it was Izuru that was telling him to tell her that. It was really confusing sometimes. She started to play games to get her mind off of it, but after a few hours, she realized she wasn’t paying attention anymore.

Sighing, she wondered if her friends were alright. Were they struggling to deal with this whole being dead thing? Maybe she should do something, like another party! Though, the fair event was happening in a week, should they have a party before then? Chiaki thought real hard on it, shutting her eyes tight.

The next time she opened them, it had been a full ten hours. “Ooh, I did it again!” She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance as she got up to the rising sun. Those ten hours could have had some gaming in them!

Quickly, she got ready for class, and began hurrying out of her dorm. She had a bit of an idea, not a party party, but maybe just a small little get together. Though, they were always together because they all had class together. She could probably try to convince Chisa to let them have a day break from working, because their main goal was to make memories.

Feeling confident, she walked into class, planning to go straight to the teacher. Only a few classmates were there at the time; Fuyuhiko, Peko, Mahiru, Hajime and Sonia. They usually showed up early, which was a good thing, but it normally wasn’t Chiaki’s cup of tea. Chisa was busy organizing papers on her desk. 

“Um, Miss Yukizome?” Chiaki got her attention.

“Yes, Chiaki?” Chisa smiled warmly at her, her head tilted in waiting for a response.

“I was wondering if we could have a break from assignments today? Everyone’s been working hard, I think.” Chiaki tapped her chin. “And maybe we could have a nice lunch, too?”

Chisa looked thoughtful for a moment, narrowing her eyes and looking about the classroom. Then, she looked to Chiaki with a bright smile and nodded cheerfully.

“I’ll tell the rest of the class, but just for today, okay? Then, after the fair event, we can return to having normal memory-making days.” Chisa then told Chiaki to go sit down, which the gamer happily obliged to.

She smiled at Hajime, who was on her left, and he grinned back. Classmates started coming in, some of them a bit quieter than usual. Like Gundham, who normally would reveal his entrance dramatically, but now he just walked in without a second thought. Or like Akane, who would rush Teruteru to make food, but now she was just silently snacking a family size bag of chips.

After everyone arrived, Chisa smiled at them. “Everyone! We’re not going to work on your given assignments today, as per request by Chiaki. Instead, all we’re going to do is have a nice free time! But please remember this is just for today, I’m hoping you continue these assignments even after class.” She clasped her hands together. “And maybe after the school fair, we’ll return to our normal memory-making hours!”

A lot of students made sounds and shouts of agreement, and Chiaki couldn’t help but feel good about today. Everyone deserved a mental break, especially after what they’ve been through! They deserved to at least get their minds off it! What world doesn’t give you at least a day to mentally heal after an incident, expecting you to just be completely fine?

Chiaki held up a controller. “Who wants to play video games?” After a few people agreed, Chiaki played games with some of her friends. Others were talking to each other, playing board games or just goofing around. An atmosphere Chiaki could get behind.

Around the tenth round of video games with different people this time, Chiaki heard someone bang on a table. She turned around and saw Fuyuhiko looking frustrated, and she could see why. He was playing monopoly with Hajime, Peko and Nagito. Monopoly with Nagito was a one hundred percent guarantee for losing. She watched Chisa walk over with an equally sympathetic face.

“Ah, Fuyuhiko, could you not abuse the desks please? And I’m sure you’ll win against Nagito some day!” She pat the gangster on the back, and he brushed her hand away annoyedly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Lucky bastard.” Fuyuhiko crossed his arms as Nagito choke-laughed. 

Chisa gave a chuckle, then seemed to look down at her hand. Chiaki was surprised to see an alarmed look on their teacher’s face, especially when she looked back at Fuyuhiko. Her face paled, and she tapped Fuyuhiko on the shoulder.

“Fuyuhiko, you’re bleeding.” Chisa said.

Chiaki froze, and tried to get a closer look. Fuyuhiko seemed confused. “What do you mean? I’m not fucking bleeding.”

“No, no you’re bleeding. A lot, actually, could you um, come with me please?” Chisa gestured to both him and Mikan to follow her.

Mikan agreed pretty easily, and Fuyuhiko just patted his own back. “What do you- holy shit!” Chiaki could see his whole palm covered in sickly red. He seemed to hurry after Chisa and Mikan after doing so.

Chiaki could see blood soaked through his back, right where his heart would be. That… that didn’t make the gamer feel good. She put the controller down and looked at her other surprised classmates. Wait a minute, Chiaki turned to Hajime.

“Didn’t you say we can’t bleed anymore?” She asked, her eyebrows pinched together in puzzlement.

“Yeah, yeah I did.” Hajime looked deep in thought as he wrote something down. “But I guess Fuyuhiko didn’t get the memo.” A joke trying to shed light on a shocking situation.

“Oh… well, no one else is feeling wrong, right?” Chiaki asked, and in response, Sonia started coughing. Horribly.

“Yes! We are good!” The princess managed to say, coughing into a handkerchief. “Except for the fact that I have been coughing blood.”

“What?!” Chiaki ran up to her friend, and saw that the white handkerchief was stained red. “Hajime?!” 

“I… am still uncertain about that. How long as that been going on?” Hajime asked.

“Since I was rose from the dead!” Sonia said cheerfully.

Hajime looked as if he desperately wanted to correct that statement. “That might be your consequence… maybe the blood Fuyuhiko was emitting was also a consequence? How weird are these going to get?” Hajime sighed.

“Are they going to harm us, Hajime?” Chiaki asked.

“Probably not. Most likely inconvenience you, but I don’t think they will have any bad side effects. At least the blood isn’t gushing out of her mouth.” Hajime joked.

“Can that actually happen?” Chiaki had to know, for the sake of her friends!

“Maybe? I don’t know, you guys are the ones who died.” Hajime shrugged.

“Gee, thanks for the clarification, Mr. Helpful!” Hiyoko sarcastically sneered.

Chiaki was now worried, mostly about the fact that it wasn't Izuru who had been talking, was Hajime getting more sassy or something? Or has he always been this difficult? But also, she was worried about the side effects of dying. If Hajime was right, then none of it should be bad, right?

Almost as if to answer her again, Sonia seemed to gasp. “Gundham, why are you crying?”

Chiaki tilted her head, and looked towards the breeder. There were tears going down his eyes, but it seemed too quick to be natural tears. They were also very big globs of tears, and they were also coming out of his nose. Gundham clasped a hand over his mouth, shuddering uncontrollably. It sort of looked like…

“Are you going to throw up, Gundham?!” Chiaki urgently asked, and the breeder nodded very quickly. 

Sonia then dived into the storage closet, retrieving the mop bucket and placing it towards Gundham, who was still shaking. The breeder then leaned over the bucket, removing his hand and opening his mouth. Instead of vomit, water rushed out like a waterfall, like a never ending stream of nightmares. Chiaki swore she saw this in a show once with gemstone people. After a couple of minutes of Gundham seemingly having the worst time of his life, it stopped, and he ended it with a raspy coughing fit.

He looked up at Sonia, water still going down his mouth and eyes. “Thank you.”

“Hey- Hajime?” Chiaki asked, a bit freaked out. “I-I think you can add water gushing out of someone’s mouth to the list…”

“Gross.” Hiyoko gagged in the background.

“Anyone else?” The imposter huffed, going through their pockets at the moment.

“I dunno, I’ve been feeling fine. Way more flexible than ever, though!” Akane tossed her torso back, and it looked as if she snapped her spine in half.

That made Chiaki nearly gag, and she had to look away. “...Thank you for sharing, Akane.”

Chisa came back with Fuyuhiko and Mikan, the yakuza looking incredibly pissed off. Chisa looked a bit confused and Mikan looked as if she wanted to murder an innocent bystander. The nurse looked at the bucket, and her murderous glare turned to timid confusion.

“Wh-what happened here?” She asked.

“Hmph, nothing more of a minor misfortune.” Gundham replied, sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed.

“What happened with the blood?” Chiaki, in turn, asked Mikan.

“N-nothing! There wasn’t a-anyway the blood would even appear…” Mikan trembled between timid and angry.

“Yeah, a waste of my fucking time, that’s what that was.” Fuyuhiko spat, sitting down at his desk in anger.

“Ah, well, it was still something that needed to be checked.” Chisa calmly stated. “Who knows what it could have been.”

Fuyuhiko grumbled to himself, and things started to settle down until ‘Ryota’ said something. “Has anyone s-seen my phone?”

“Ah, I have it right here.” Izuru said, holding it up and sliding it over to the imposter. “But you’ve got thirty-five missed calls, you know. And maybe you should see those messages, as well.”

Chiaki didn’t like that tone of voice. She looked over to the imposter, who looked very stern and concerned. They went onto their phone, and Chiaki saw their eyes widen.

**_[Achievement Get: Bloody Waterfalls!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last side-effect centric chapter! Next is the new students... arc? Would you call it an arc?  
> Here's a sneak peak of the next chapter's title: "The Imposter's Failure!" :)  
> Kehehehehe


	14. The Imposter's Failure!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The imposter sets out to find their good friend, Ryota! Chiaki, Mikan, Ibuki, and Hajime help too, I guess.

Concern washed over Chiaki as she saw the imposter look angry, then look conflicted, then dismayed. What happened? What did they see?! Chisa seemed to notice the look of ‘Ryota’s’ face, and she walked over calmly.

“Ryota? Are you alright?” She asked, tilting her head.

“...Yes.” The voice was barely like Ryota’s, as if the imposter was on the verge of breaking cover.

“Alright…” Chisa seemed unconvinced, but left it alone anyway.

Chiaki didn’t like this. What did Izuru know that they didn’t? Was it something to do with the real Ryota? And didn’t they have to still get some answers from the imposter? With so many questions swimming around in her head, the gamer nearly lost focus of what was going on. She needed to find out what happened to her friend- would the imposter be their friend? Yes! Definitely!

She impatiently waited for class to end, what was supposed to be a nice day off had turned into something anxiety driven. She was less focused on her games, and she kept glancing towards the imposter, who stared into their desk. Determination once more fueled her actions, and as class dismissed and Chisa walked out of the room to the teacher’s lounge, she walked over to the imposter. They didn’t look up, they’ve only been staring solemnly at their phone they had received from Izuru- or as they saw it- Hajime.

“Imposter?” She asked, knowing no one else who didn’t know wasn’t around. “What happened?”

“None of your concern.” They seemed unfazed, but could that be just a façade?

“If it involves my friends, it is my concern.” Chiaki replied defensively, her hands gripping her book bag straps. 

The imposter looked up at her with an emotionally pained expression. “It doesn’t concern you.”

“It doesn’t matter if it does or doesn’t concern me. If it concerns you, then I’m involved.” Chiaki kept on with her stance, dead set on helping her friend.

The imposter seemed pretty unconvinced, though Chiaki could see she might be getting through. “Oh! Ibuki wants to help, too!” Ibuki suddenly leaned over, smiling widely. This was what got the imposter to look defeated.

“...Fine. I’ll tell you.” They crossed their arms. “I suppose you could say I was ‘friends’ with the real Ryota. To the point where I promised to keep you all safe, including him.” They looked at the phone again. “But I don’t like the sound of this.”

“What do you mean?” Chiaki asked, trying to pry further.

“Apparently, while I was… dead, he tried calling. And messaging. The last message was sent a day ago.” The imposter showed the phone.

There were a few text messages, but there was a message that was sent two days ago, and it read; ‘I’m coming to find you! I’m worried, and I want to make sure you’re okay!’. Chiaki tilted her head, trying to find the error in this message. It just seemed like a worried friend, trying to make sure their friend was alright.

“What’s wrong with it?” Chiaki tapped her chin in confusion.

“Yeah! I just see a really worried buddy!” Ibuki chimed in, displaying her equal puzzlement.

“Ryota physically has the worst health in human existence. He stays up all night and day, forgetting to eat and sleep, working on anime.” The imposter sighed. “I was trying to make him better, but I never got to that point. I was going to ask Mikan… but then my classmates began dying.”

“Oh… and I guess the no new messages after that are a little worrying, right?” Chiaki thought aloud. “If he went trying to find you, and if he forgot to eat when you’re not around, that means he’s not in the best of health.”

“Exactly. I need to find him, who knows what happened to him at this point.” 

“Then let’s go look for him.” Chiaki puffed out her cheeks in determination. 

“Oh! Ibuki will help, too!” Ibuki grinned, leaping out of her desk.

“I’ll come along, if that’s okay.” Hajime also got up, walking closer.

“Thank you, but really, I don’t need help finding him.” The imposter put a hand up, as if to stop them. “He’s probably at home…” They seemed uncertain of that.

“At least let us come along with you?” Chiaki suggested. “Then we’ll know for sure that he’s either at home or not.”

The imposter looked thoughtful, then sighed and nodded. “Fine, but we’re bringing Mikan.”

After collecting a timid Mikan, the five of them made their way towards the old dorms that Hope’s Peak used. The imposter led them down a hallway and to a door third down on the right, using a key to unlock and open it. However, there was no animator working tirelessly on an animation, and instead, an empty room. There were chip bags and snack wrappers here and there, but all the equipment was turned off.

“Seems like nobody’s been here for two days.” Hajime- Izuru- commented, swiping a finger on light dust that started to settle on the bed frame.

“Impossible, where else would he be?” The imposter started looking around the empty room.

“O-oh dear…” Mikan whimpered a little. “I hope s-something awful d-didn’t h-happen…”

Chiaki also began looking for some clues, anything to suggest where the real animator went. She wanted to make sure he was okay, for the sake of the imposter, who seemed a bit shaken up, even if they tried to mask it. Hajime was inspecting something on the ground, and Chiaki crouched next to him to see what it was. He was holding a normal, black ink pen that was half used.

“Hmm. This doesn’t belong here.” Izuru commented.

“It’s just a pen, animators probably always have pens around.” Chiaki refuted, wondering where the bored-looking science experiment was going with this.

“No, this is the headmaster’s pen. I’ve seen it multiple times in his office.” Izuru corrected her, and Chiaki looked bewildered.

“How can you tell?” 

“Simple, the headmaster always adds a small, white tab to his pens so the scoutmaster doesn’t steal them. It never works, of course.” Izuru explained dully, then he got up. “I know who we should ask about this missing person.”

“Ask someone? Why should we ask someone?” Ibuki pressed her fingers together, asking for an explanation.

“Because the headmaster was here before, do I have to explain myself?” Izuru put his hands on his hips, looking annoyed.

“Hmph.” The imposter walked over to him. “Fine. Show us where to go.”

Izuru seemed thankful that he didn’t need to explain further, but that seemed as much emotion he was going to show. Instead, he began walking, almost without them, like he wanted them to fall behind or something. But no, Chiaki made sure to keep pace with him, glancing back every now and then to make sure nobody got left behind. He led them across Hope’s Peak’s yard towards the main building, walking in without another thought. 

Soon, they were right outside the headmaster’s office, and Izuru paused. “You all might want to sit tight. I’ll be right back with answers.” He then went into the office.

“Chiaki, I have to question your friend Hinata.” The imposter sternly looked at her.

“Oh, u-um, he’s just a bit… forward sometimes.” Was that the right word to describe Hajime?

“But sometimes he acts like a completely different person.” That made Chiaki freeze. What did she say? Tell the person who was incredibly talented at acting like different people that Hajime, in fact, always acts bored sometimes?

“I’ll admit he’s… weird.” Chiaki mentally apologized to Hajime. “But he’s still my friend! And that’s all that matters.”

“Then how does he get Headmaster Kirigiri to believe his words?” 

“Oh…” Chiaki scratched the side of her face. Was that Izuru who did the talking? _Was he threatening the headmaster?_ “I don’t know, actually.”

“Hm. You might want to start questioning things more, Chiaki.” The imposter stopped talking, waiting for Hajime to come out.

“So serious,” Ibuki cupped her face with her hands. “I’m sure that guy is just weird, and nothin’ else! Or, he promises the headmaster to throw cool parties if he agrees with whatever!”

“I-Ibuki, that’s completely i-insane…” Mikan shook her head. “H-he probably just a-asks kindly…”

“Nah, he probably hypnotizes him with his evil stare!”

“Or maybe h-he offers to d-do all of the j-janitorial chores in th-the school.”

Ibuki and Mikan then dived into a long-winded discussion about how Hajime convinces the headmaster to do things. Chiaki could barely understand their ideas as it was, some of them being completely insane or other times something completely impossible. She was being driven up the walls with this conversation going on! 

Finally, after what seemed like a while, a grim-looking Hajime stepped out of the office, silencing Ibuki and Mikan. He looked over at Chiaki, then at the imposter, then he shut his eyes. Hajime leaned against the door with his arms crossed, and this seemed to tick off the imposter.

“Well? What did he say? Spit it out!” The imposter demanded.

“...I know where the real Ryota is.” Hajime replied- and Chiaki could hear the solemnness in his voice. It was also… sympathetic.

“Then where is he?” Patience seemed to be running out for the imposter. 

The expression on Hajime’s face changed from sympathetic, to very bored, then to downright pitiful. “I’m sorry…” Hajime faced the imposter. “But… he’s gone.”

“Gone?” The imposter didn’t look too sure, as if they didn’t know what Hajime was saying. Or… as if they didn’t want to believe what he was saying. 

“...Follow me.” Hajime looked as if he wanted to say more, but started walking away.

The group followed Hajime, who was being silent despite the imposter’s almost desperate efforts to get him to tell them more. Chiaki felt as if she knew where they were going, then when turning a corner, it became not only a feeling. They were heading to the morgue.

The others only caught on until the last stretch of walking they did. The imposter seemed to clench their teeth and fists, and Chiaki could understand. Hajime disappeared into the morgue, and the rest followed with great hesitance. When they finally managed to go inside, Hajime was hovering over one of the dreadfully familiar cabinets. Chiaki hated those cabinets. 

“No…” The imposter whispered. Hajime pulled the cabinet open, and a body was pulled out along with. It of course was covered, but Chiaki could only imagine who it was.

“Oh... “ Ibuki was the first to comment, and it was barely even one. 

“I-I’m so sorry!” Mikan wailed a little. 

Chiaki looked at the imposter, and saw that they had a hand hovering over the sheet. Shaking, they lifted it, and Chiaki could see a more sunken-looking Ryota, the real one looked sickly and downright ghoul-ish. The bags under his eyes were incredibly heavy, his face was sunken and he looked as if he suffered for so long. Mikan let out a woeful wail, mostly at the sight. Ibuki was silent, a hand on the imposter’s back. The imposter looked dismayed, and Chiaki shut her eyes for a second at the sight.

“It can’t… no…” The imposter squeezed their eyes shut. “I… I failed him…”

“Don’t think that way… you had no idea this would happen.” Chiaki looked at them with a sympathetic expression.

“I promised to keep him safe, as well as myself. I failed that promise in every way possible.” The imposter looked at her with stern eyes, but there was a tear going down their face.

“...I’m sorry that your friend died.” Chiaki merely said, not wanting to pry into the imposter’s feelings if they didn’t want to share them. 

Ibuki then cut through the conversation. “Heeey, Ibuki has an idea! Why doesn’t Hinata bring him back like he did with us?”

“Th-that’s…” Mikan looked visibly frustrated, then seemed to give up inside. “A g-good idea.”

“...You better.” The imposter threateningly looked at Hajime, who was visibly startled.

“But if I do, your cover is blown to Miss Yukizome.” Hajime warned, and Chiaki could tell it wasn’t Izuru. Izuru wouldn’t care.

“...That is fine. Just bring him back.” 

“Alright.” Hajime nodded. “It’ll take a bit, though. You can go to your dorm or something in the meantime.”

“I’m coming with you.” The imposter stated.

“We can come too, if you would like.” Chiaki added.

“No, you three should go. Ryota isn’t… a people’s person.” The imposter sighed. 

“Okay.” Chiaki nodded. 

“Aww, fine. Ibuki hopes you get your friend back oh-! Maybe we can all be friends!” Ibuki clapped excitedly, and rushed out of the morgue.

“I-I hope he i-is alright, too…” Mikan shared, then walked after Ibuki.

“I hope all goes well.” Chiaki smiled, and walked away. 

It was no easy feat, learning your friend was dead. That’s where she could understand the urgency of the imposter, wanting to see their friend again. Smiling, happy and without a care in the world. If only her class could do the ‘without a care in the world’ part, but the worries just keep on going…

**_[Achievement Get: The Animator’s Last Frame!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryota got fuckin dieded  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter!  
> And thank you for reading this story, I have a vague idea for how it will go but putting it down is hard lol


	15. A New Ultimate Has Appeared!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new student appears! And she has a lot of egotistical attributes about herself.

Chiaki walked into class, where most of her classmates had already arrived. She was always one of the last ones, waking up late and all. Hajime and the imposter weren’t there yet, though. That worried Chiaki a little. She had tried calling before class, but nobody answered. She didn’t like it when Hajime didn’t answer the phone anymore.

She sat down, looking at the door, just hoping Hajime would walk in. Her wish was granted, surprisingly, as Hajime walked in with Chisa and the imposter. The imposter looked deadly serious, yet there may have been a ghost of a smile on their face, while Hajime looked downright bored. That was Izuru, wasn’t it?

“Er, class, listen please.” Chisa seemed very confused, yet was trying her best to seem professional. “We have a couple of new students joining.”

Chiaki tilted her head, expressing her confusion. If Ryota was joining, then there should only be one student? But why would Ryota even join their class? What was Izuru planning?

“Apparently, there was supposed to be an Ultimate Animator and Ultimate Imposter, but the Ultimate Imposter took on the Ultimate Animator as a disguise… I know, a bit confusing, but now the real Ultimate Animator is joining us. Ryota? Come in here, please.” Chisa called towards the doorway. 

A very nervous and scared looking Ryota came in, then glued himself to the imposter’s side. He didn’t look any better, in fact, Chiaki would think he looked like a stereotypical zombie, but without any missing parts. His eyes were glazed, and the bags under them looked like they carried all of his anxiety. His face still looked sunken in, and overall, he looked as if he was going to start asking for brains.

The imposter whispered something to him, and he looked wide-eyed around at the class. Chiaki looked at Izuru, who was looking at his nails, seemingly uncaring about the events unfolding. Chisa was looking under her desk at something, probably paperwork. 

“So, this is the true Illustrator of Other Worlds?” Commented Gundham, who was really the first to say words and not just abstract noises. 

“I expected him to look less dead.” Hiyoko snarkily jeered, and made a ‘ow’ noise as Mahiru elbowed her.

“Ibuki will become your friend immediately!” Ibuki pumped her fists in the air.

“Another new student in here? What next?” Fuyuhiko huffed.

“Well…” Chisa furrowed her eyebrows, crossing her arms. “There is another new student.”

Chiaki tilted her head again, as Ryota and the imposter sat down. Izuru stayed up front with folded arms, a shadow of a smirk on his face. “Who, Miss Yukizome?” Chiaki asked, wondering if Izuru was the cause. 

“Well, she’s called the…” She looked at a piece of paper, almost suspiciously. “The Ultimate Little Sister.”

“WHAT?!” Fuyuhiko shouted, slamming his hands down on the desk. “What the flying fucking hell do you fucking mean?!” Peko even seemed shocked, sitting next to him silently with a slightly gaping mouth and wide eyes.

“You thought you saw the last of me, huh?!” A long-haired blonde girl strutted in, hands on her hips and a snarky smile on her face. Although, her skin was a tinted green-ish, and her eyes were glazed, as if they were a dead person’s. “Well, too bad!”

Fuyuhiko looked as if he was going through so many emotions, yet at the same time, none at all. Chiaki tapped her chin, wondering why this sassy teenager looked familiar. Wasn’t she in the news at one point? 

“Class… This is Natsumi Kuzuryu. She is-” Chisa was cut off by a very confused sounding Fuyuhiko.

“Natsumi?! The hell are you doing here?!” The Yakuza heir looked almost angry. 

“Duh, ‘cause I’m an Ultimate. You’re never getting rid of me, now!” Natsumi smugly crossed her arms. 

“...Yes, please sit down now.” Chisa had her eyes narrowed at Natsumi, but then they went cheerful. “I expect you to show them the same hospitality as you would show any of your classmates! And, please expect another new student tomorrow, or so Headmaster Kirigiri says.”

“How many new students are we going to have?” Sonia asked.

“Just one more, I believe.” Chisa responded, smiling. “Now… in light of new students joining, I’ll let you all get to know them. You may continue your assignments at home.” 

Chiaki smiled at that, but then looked over at Hajime, and saw him typing something on his phone underneath his desk. Suddenly, the teacher’s phone rang, and she looked exasperated, walking outside to talk on the phone, telling the students to be good. Chiaki wondered if Hajime did something, but realized she was wondering about the wrong thing.

“How the everlasting fuck are you alive- you know what? Nevermind.” Fuyuhiko had gotten up, conversing with his sister.

“Yeah, that boring Frankenstein weirdo brought me back ‘cause I can’t stay down!” Natsumi stuck her nose up. “I’m too damn good to be dead.”

“Don’t call Hajime a monster!” Chiaki pinched her eyebrows together.

“Actually, Chiaki, Frankenstein wasn’t the monster,” Sonia corrected.

“He was the necromancer who brought life into the monster,” Gundham finished.

“Still.” Chiaki glared at Natsumi. If she was going to cause problems…

“Get off your high-horse you social shut in.” Natsumi stuck her tongue out, then, to Fuyuhiko, “You can’t leave me behind now!” 

Fuyuhiko looked to the side, shutting his eyes. “I never was going to, you know. Glad you’re back.”

“Mhm! Oh, another thing... “ Natsumi grabbed Fuyuhiko’s shirt collar forcefully. “Did you go and die without my permission?!” 

“That bastard told you that we died?!” Fuyuhiko growled, glaring daggers at Hajime, who shrugged. 

“Well, I would’ve found out anyway! If you stayed dead, I’d come and kill you again!” Natsumi gritted her teeth.

“Can we calm down?” Mahiru said gently. “Er, Natsumi, I just want to-” She had no time to say anything.

Chiaki watched as Natsumi let go of Fuyuhiko, practically run over to the photographer, and tried to wring her hands around the red-head’s neck. Luckily, Fuyuhiko called for Peko’s assistance, who put the little sister into a hold with her sword. Natsumi struggled against the swordswoman, trying to get to the photographer who was leaning as far back as possible.

“What the fuck?!” Hiyoko seemed to hug onto Mahiru, as if to comfort her. “The hell is wrong with you, you witch?” 

“You let her-!” Natsumi started growling, looking incredibly pissed at Mahiru. “You let that talentless nobody-!” 

That was the last straw for Chiaki. The gamer got up, her face still displaying woe, and walked calmly over, and then backhanded Natsumi across the face. “Never try to touch my classmates like that again!” She reprimanded. 

“Chiaki, calm down.” Hajime said from behind her, and hand landing on the gamer’s shoulder.

“Don’t fucking slap my sister- sure, she got out of line and tried to strangle Mahiru, but we’ve all tried to fucking do that.” Fuyuhiko crossed his arms. 

“Wha- hey!” Mahiru seemed to get out of shock. 

“I think we should do as Hinata says,” Peko suggested. “And be calm.”

Natsumi seemed to have quieted after Chiaki slapped her. She seemed to be pouting more than anything, though. Her arms were folded and her eyes were averted. She mumbled something, and Peko let go of her, and she brushed herself off. Then, she looked around, and huffed.

“What are you all looking at?” She stared at Mahiru, then, with a snarky tone, said; “...I’ll try not to blame you. It was her fault, after all.” Then she walked over to an empty desk near Fuyuhiko’s, and sat down silently. 

Fuyuhiko sighed, and walked over to her, and started whispering to her. Peko joined them, and Chiaki decided not to go too close to them. Instead, she looked over at Hajime. 

“Is that why you asked if Fuyuhiko had a sister?” Chiaki asked.

Izuru nodded. “Took a while finding her, though.”

“Then who’s the new student coming tomorrow?” 

“Two students died in the reserve course. The other one, of course.” He looked at her as if she was stupid or something. She’ll never get used to Izuru.

“Oh.” Chiaki looked down, then walked away, not having the strength to talk to Izuru. Instead, she tried to approach the real Ryota, who was being bombarded by Ibuki… and a very worried-looking Mikan. 

“Ibuki will become your bestest friend!” She had an arm around Ryota, who looked very scared. 

“H-have you been eating w-well at all…?” Mikan was asking, looking at him.

Ryota looked incredibly uncomfortable, and Chiaki took a breath and stepped over. “Hey, Ibuki? Could you let him be a little? Remember what he went through?” The gamer stated.

Ibuki’s mouth formed ‘oh’, then she let go. “I’m sorry! I forgot, but once Ryota is done mourning himself we can totally be best buds!”

Chiaki then turned to Mikan. “And Mikan, I don’t think any of us needs to really eat anymore... I think.”

Mikan looked horrified, and Chiaki wondered if she said the wrong thing. The nurse said nothing, only walking back to her desk and sitting down silently. Chiaki scratched the side of her head, and looked at Ryota, who muttered a silent ‘thank you’ to her. She smiled at him, then sat down. 

The class was more silent after the debacle with Natsumi and Mahiru, but when wasn’t there a dreading atmosphere over them anymore? Chisa walked back in, looking at them, and narrowed her eyes for only a second.

“Sorry about that class, the headmaster called again. Did we have a good time?” She asked, smiling.

There were a few mutters of agreement, though some of it was forced. Hiyoko only huffed. 

“Well… let’s continue class, then!” Chisa clasped her hands together, and class began.

**_[Achievement Get: A Brother’s Grievance!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will drink your tears.  
> Sometimes, I wonder if I'm writing this right, but then I write Chiaki slapping someone in the name of her friends, and I know I'm doing just fine.   
> Also, what can be qualified as an Ultimate talent? Hmm...


	16. Another Reserve Course Student Turned Ultimate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh wowie, another dead person!

For the rest of the day after class, Chiaki wondered if Natsumi was going to be good for her classmates. She seemed to insult everyone, threaten everyone, and even try to scare them. Chiaki didn’t like her too much, but she decided to internally promise Fuyuhiko that she wouldn’t try to slap her. Again.

She laid back in her bed, thinking deeply about the state of their class. Hajime, again, had to skip out of hanging out, and Chiaki could barely pick up a controller because of the thoughts racing through her head. Were her classmates okay? Every moment she didn’t see them, their lifeless forms played in her head, and she wanted to scream. Cry. Wail. Run to them and make sure they’re still walking. 

The gamer shook her head, sitting up out of her bed, yet still clinging to the Galaga blanket her friends got her as a gift. Cold sweat went down her face as she shakily held her game trying her best to focus solely on the console. It was useless, so instead, she decided to plan for the fair event happening in only three days. 

It was going to be like a fair, with rides and attractions, but also as a way to get Ultimates to use their talent more. Which, Chiaki was a bit confused about, as Ultimates got their talent by becoming better at them and genuinely doing what they loved. They didn’t need a whole fair event to get them going on their talent. 

Chiaki reached over to her small desk that she only has a gaming PC on, and grabbed the small pamphlet everyone was given about the event. She went through the cornily written, almost camp-like, activities there apparently was going to be. There wasn’t going to any timed events, really, so nobody had to be there or was going to miss anything.

She put the pamphlet down, then took out her console game, ready to continue playing to get her mind off of things once more.

[---]

Waiting for a new student to walk in always made Chiaki apprehensive, mostly because she didn’t know how they could act. Could they be like Natsumi, who was brash and rude? Or like Ryota, who was very timid and at times, scared for no reason? Hajime said the new student was the second one who died during the tragic event in the reserve course, but Chiaki never learned their names besides Natsumi.

She had a bad feeling, though. 

Then, Chisa walked in with a girl behind her. She had long, wavy hair that seemed almost dark green and violet eyes. Mahiru gasped when she saw her, and Chiaki heard Fuyuhiko growl. Natsumi punched her own desk.

“Class! This is the student I was talking about. Her name is Sato, and... she’s the Ultimate Ally.” Chisa explained, and Chiaki could see her side-eyeing Hajime. 

Now that Chiaki thought about it, Chisa must be incredibly confused. Students that were pronounced dead suddenly joining her class, not to mention her entire class pulling a dead prank. What was she thinking during all of this? Chiaki hoped she wasn’t stressing out or anything.

“Hello.” Sato said, and the tension in the room grew incredibly thick.

It grew tenser still as she sat down, and Chiaki wondered how Chisa was getting these new desks. Probably Izuru, again. She wondered how he was able to do half the things he could, in such a short amount of time. Even though some of her classmates tried greeting Sato, Chiaki saw her just curtly nod. She hoped today Chisa wouldn’t leave the room.

Almost by miracle, no phones went off. Chisa was able to teach class like usual. It only went wrong after class, when unfortunately, Chisa was one of the very first to leave when she dismissed them. Who was left was Chiaki, Hajime, Fuyuhiko, Peko, Mahiru, Hiyoko, Sato, Nagito and Natsumi, and Chiaki had just got up when the door closed.

Natsumi was standing by it, her hand locking the door, and her eyebrows furrowed. Then, she pointed an accusatory finger at Hajime. “You brought HER back?!” Her finger moved to Sato. “Why the hell would you bring her back?!”

“I’m gonna have to agree with Natsumi, why the fuck did you bring that bitch back, you bastard?!” Fuyuhiko was next to his sister, with Peko close behind. Chiaki instantly knew she shouldn’t be here, and awkwardly stood around. 

“Hey! You better apologise, if your sister comes back, then my friend gets to as well!” Mahiru pointed accusingly back at them. 

“And I only did it because of what you kept on saying to Mahiru!” Sato argued back.

Wait? What was even going on? Chiaki could barely follow along, so she stood back, with Nagito and Hajime. Nagito had a smile, though that was his usual face, and Hajime looked out of place. 

“I don’t want to hear it from you!” Natsumi hissed, her hands shaking into fists.

Chiaki didn’t want to be there, but she sucked it up and put on her best brave face. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“None of your business!” Natsumi stared daggers at the gamer, then back to Sato. “You don’t deserve to live, you should’ve stayed dead!”

“At least I’m more tolerable to be around, and not some half-baked excuse for an Ultimate!” Sato cracked her knuckles, and Mahiru looked uncomfortable.

Natsumi slid into a fighting stance, and Chiaki started to get ready to get in the middle of this. The little sister drew back a fist, and Sato also got ready to fight back. Natsumi then swung her fist at her, and she let out a yell. However, no impact was made as Sato dodged it, swinging her own leg to trip Natsumi. 

Behind Natsumi, Peko and Fuyuhiko looked ready to start helping out. Chiaki didn’t like this, so she went to say something, but Nagito grabbed her arm. She looked at him, and he shook his head, the gamer stared in confusion. This might escalate into something worse if they don’t do something! She looked back, a bit panicked, and saw Natsumi pull out a knife- oh god.

But, as the sister slashed towards Sato, too quick for the other to move, something blocked her. A hand had encircled her wrist in a tight grip, it was shaking from what Chiaki could see, and another had encircled Sato’s. Hajime looked incredibly serious, and his green eye shut- ah, Izuru had stopped it. 

“I recommend not having this small quarrel over something as insignificant as your lives.” He proclaimed, twisting both of their wrists- Natsumi dropped the knife. “Otherwise, I’ll just take them back.”

“You- you can’t do that!” Natsumi sneered, almost not believing him. “You said yourself, we can’t die twice!”

“Ah, but who gave you that chance in the first place? Believe me, I always find a way.” Izuru stared coldly into her eyes, and Chiaki could see fear in Natsumi’s.

“But aren’t all lives just hopeful? Taking even one would give way to despair!” Nagito stated, wrapping his arms around himself.

“Please, as if any of your lives matter. All you are to me are lab rats, helping me with my research on the dead. I can take your life away just as I gave it anytime I want, and maybe I will. Maybe I won’t. It doesn’t matter to me who or when I will. You all lost the importance on your heads the day you died.” 

The room lapsed into silence. Chiaki shifted uncomfortably, looked down, not wanting to stare at the person using Hajime’s voice to say such things. She wanted Hajime back, not wanting to spend any time near Izuru. The bored-looking student released the both of them, and dusted his hands off. 

“U-um…” Chiaki began, having sat in silence for too long. “I-I’m sure that’s not… true…”

“What the fuck does all that mean, you bastard?!” Fuyuhiko seemed to have found some choice words. “Are you saying that you’d gladly just fucking kill us anytime you fucking feel like it?!” 

“If I wanted to be shouted at by a poor excuse for a Yakuza heir, then I’d have merely insulted your height, since you seem so insecure about it.” Izuru folded his arms, staring at the shorter.

Fuyuhiko’s face went red. “Just because you can give a fucking shitty guess on people doesn’t mean you know shit! You really want to die so badly, don’t you?!”

Chiaki started to sweat a little. “H-hey, hey, can we just sit down and cool off?”

“I am fucking cooled down, you bastard! It’s this asshole who needs to watch his fucking mouth!” Behind Fuyuhiko, Peko readied her sword and Natsumi seemed to get renewed fire.

Chiaki quickly looked for an excuse, then strided over towards Izuru. She forcefully grabbed him by the wrist, glaring into his eyes as she turned to the others. She gave a nervous smile as she addressed the actual Yakuza. Weird, she never thought of what her friends really did for a living until now.

“Um, Hajime and I are gonna go now. We got a project we’re both working on, right, _Hajime_?” She said through clenched teeth, glaring at Izuru.

“I suppose.” He tried to wrench his hand from Chiaki, and the gamer saw surprise lit up in his red eye for only a second when he failed.

“Um, see you all tomorrow!” Chiaki smiled, then practically ran out of the room. When they were a good distance away, mostly at the fountain, she sharply turned to Izuru. “What is wrong with you? You do realize you share a body with Hajime!”

He rolled his eyes. “And? I get bored just standing around. I also get bored of people who claim they're incredibly strong, yet end up being weak.”

“Can you just not mess up Hajime’s life? I’m not going to let you ruin Hajime’s future!” Chiaki puffed out her cheeks, crossing her arms.

“Fine. I’ll try not to, but your class is just so boring.” With that, Izuru abruptly left, leaving Chiaki fed up with him.

The gamer let out a long sigh, and trudged to her dorm sadly.

**_[Achievement Get: Friend versus Sister!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not chapter on Wednesday, it won't happen again though as I now have a new technique! It's called slamming my head on the keyboard until words appear!  
> Also, I think I picked the Ultimate for Sato pretty well! :>


	17. This Our Hope's Peak Fair!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start of the fair!

Sunlight drifted in as Chiaki lifted an arm lazily over her eyes. Almost immediately, her sleeve soaked with tears that didn’t even have a purpose for being there. Great. How many times will she cry without even thinking about depressing thoughts? The rest of her life? She sat up, her eyebrows furrowing deep in thought. Did she have a rest of her life? 

Will her and her classmates live forever, since they technically weren’t living? Eyes widening a little, she drew her legs in, holding them as she rested her chin on them. Will she see Hajime die of old age one day? Will she see everyone die of old age? Will she be immortal? 

Thoughts pressed in her mind, and she started to rock a little to at least try and get them out. It was getting to be overwhelming and the gamer looked for any sort of way to stop them. Fortunately, there was a knock at her dorm door, and she practically rushed over- forgetting she was in her sleepwear. Creaking the door open, she nearly smiled brightly as she saw Hajime.

“Good morning, Hajime!” Chiaki rubbed at her eye.

Hajime gave an awkward smile. “...It’s the afternoon.” 

Chiaki looked over at her limited edition Zelda digital clock, and saw that it was 12:30. “Oh. I might’ve slept in, I think.” 

“Might’ve?!” Hajime sighed, a bit exasperation from what Chiaki could tell. “Anyway, the fair is starting in thirty minutes. I was going to ask if you wanted to walk there together?”

Chiaki yawned. “Sure. Lemme get ready.” 

“Yeah… you might want to change out of your pajamas…”

Chiaki looked down at her Bowser onesie. “Okay.” 

After going back into her dorm and changing into actual everyday wear, Chiaki came back out, smiling at Hajime. They then walked towards the fairgrounds, which was on Hope’s Peak property, since the school grounds were incredibly large. It was just rearranged to have rides and carnival games. Taking a whiff of the air, Chiaki could smell popcorn, peanuts and sick teenagers who rode the roller coaster too many times. 

She looked around as they entered through the large entrance arch, and saw many games and rides. Right nearby was the carousel, which was going too quickly for a normal carousel. Then there was the roller coaster, which was also going a bit too quickly for a normal roller coaster. Chiaki thought someone modified them. 

The carnival games were always Chiaki’s favorite, as they were either precision or quick shots. The gamer tugged at Hajime’s hand, trying to get him to go to the balloon dart one. He gave a snort and followed, and Chiaki was almost bouncing to get over there. Someone was already there, and Chiaki thought that she’s from the class lower. Her blue hair and eyes made Chiaki think she was familiar, but couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Come on Hajime, I’ll win you a prize.” She said, a bit drowsy since she woke up only an hour before. 

“Okay, okay. Oh- hey Maizono!” Hajime waved to the blue haired girl, who looked a bit defeated before looking up.

“Oh, you’re Hinata right?” Sayaka asked, and Chiaki knew why she was familiar. She was a pop idol. “You were at my last show!”

“Hey, hey.” Chiaki greeted, waving.

“Hi, you must be Nanami!” Sayake waved back.

“Your shows are really fantastic.” Hajime commented, and Chiaki nodded as she asked for three darts, grateful she remembered her wallet this time.

“Thank you.” Sayaka then turned her attention to Chiaki. “This is really difficult, isn’t it?”

Chiaki went into concentration mode, starting to block out any distracting noises. She narrowed her eyes, throwing the hand that held the dart back, and then with all her might, threw the dart. It popped a balloon. She did the same with her remaining darts, and won a large stuffed, pink bunny. 

“Woah, you’re really good!” Sayaka praised.

“Thank you, it takes practice…” Chiaki smiled warmly, then handed the bunny to Hajime. “Can you hold onto this, please? I wanna win you something.” 

“Huh? Oh, you really don’t have to…” Hajime held onto the pink bunny, an embarrassed smile on his face.

“No, I wanna win you a stuffed animal.” Chiaki said with stubbornness, repaying for three more darts.

“I wonder if Makoto will win me anything…” Sayaka commented off-handedly.

“OR maybe you could win him something?” Hajime replied, and Chiaki narrowed her eyes. 

Her concentration was being sullied! How was she supposed to win Hajime something if she couldn’t concentrate? Breathing in, Chiaki threw a dart, and got one of the balloons again. Trying, she got the other two successfully, despite the whitenoise. She won a large, black bear, and happily gave it over to Hajime. Both stuffed animals were the size of his torso! 

“I’m going to go see where Makoto went, have fun!” Sayaka nodded to them before leaving.

“You too, Maizono!” Chiaki called, and Hajime said his farewells. “Come on, Hajime, let’s try the water gun games!” 

After dragging Hajime across the entire festival to play games, and bumping into both classmates and underclassmen alike, Chiaki decided to give Hajime a break. She won many, many stuffed animals- half of them for herself, the other half for Hajime-, and decided to go grab a bag while Hajime sat down. She walked towards one of the few gift shops there were and walked in, looking around the small shop for a large bag.

Purchasing a white bag, she walked out, ready to go back to Hajime, but saw Mikan talking to… oh no. It was the blond-pinkish pig-tailed girl who most likely murdered half her classmates. A strong sense of protection washed over Chiaki, and she walked over, puffing out her chest a little to give off an intimidating impression. 

“Then you should like, totally figure it out.” The girl was saying.

“I-I should?” Mikan seemed convinced of something- no!

“Mikan!” Chiaki didn’t mean to sound so commanding, so she softened her voice a little. “How are you doing?”

“H-huh? Oh… good.” Mikan was staring at Chiaki strangely.

“Um? What the hell are you doing, barging in on a conversation like that?” The girl put a hand on her hip. 

“It’s my job as class representative to check in on my classmates, I think.” Chiaki burned her glare into the pig-tailed girl’s eyes. She then turned to Mikan with a more sweet expression. “Hey Mikan? Can you check in on Ryota? I worry that he might pass out in the heat.” The quick excuse seemed to have worked.

“Right…” She seemed more distant before walking off. 

“You’ve gotta lot of nerve, you know.” The girl glared at Chiaki.

“...No, you have a lot of nerve talking to my classmates after what you did.” Chiaki turned to her, furrowed eyebrows and a hardened look in her eyes. “ I will find a way to expose you, and I will make sure you never hurt any of my friends again.”

The girl’s eyes widened a little, then a large grin encompassed her face. “Oh? Is that so? Then I’ll just have to put you in the grave before then.”

Chiaki snorted in disgust, and then started to walk away again. Hopefully, she was able to get that underclassman to back off. As she walked back towards Hajime, she saw a few of her friends having fun, and it made her warm inside. Even Natsumi seemed to be having fun, so maybe she’s not as bad as Chiaki thought. Though, you can still have fun and be a jerk.

She was almost back, until she saw the park bench empty, and the stuffed animals were only left. Warily, she walked towards them all and put them in the bag, and looked around for Hajime. Where did he go? A bit worried, Chiaki began wandering around the grounds, until she spotted him running pretty quickly by. When she was about to shout to him, she saw another person running after him, scissors hanging in their hands.

Panic made Chiaki sprint, running after the two. She didn’t know what the situation was, but if Hajime was running from someone who had very sharp looking scissors, then it couldn’t be good. She picked up the speed, seeing them turn around a photo booth and go behind one of the musical rides. But, as soon as she rounded into that area, she couldn’t see either.

“Come on, Hajime... Please be okay when I find you…” She whispered to herself as she ran about frantically. 

Then, while passing near the less crowded areas and the borders of the festival- which was just stringed off, she spotted Hajime. Or more like, Izuru. He was facing the person who had been chasing them, and had a grip on them, seemingly speaking to them quietly. Chiaki headed over, intense worry in her heart.

Izuru let the girl go, and she began maniacally laughing and swatting at him almost playfully. Then, she ran off, tongue flopping in the wind. Chiaki was able to get to Hajime, huffing a little.

“Are you okay? I just saw that girl chasing you!” Chiaki pointed a thumb back at the teen.

Hajime blinked, and he looked a bit freaked out. “Yeah… Izuru chased her off somehow…” He crossed his arms, hands on the upper parts. “Sorry for just running off like that?” He said it like a question.

“No! You don’t need to apologise. You were being chased, it’s fine. Come on, let’s go and try to enjoy the rest of the festival. Your pick this time!” Chiaki smiled at him reassuringly, trying to cheer him up.

“Alright…” He looked off a bit, then turned back to her smiling brightly. “How well can you handle roller coasters?”

Chiaki’s face fell a bit. “Oh… um… pretty well!” That was a lie. And a mistake to say.

Hajime then dragged her off this time, in the direction of the roller-coaster-that-seemed-too-fast. Chiaki groaned inwardly, knowing she was in for a ride.

**_[Achievement Get: Talk to the Culprit!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy b-day to Gundham by the way  
> Also please get the title reference I worked so hard-


	18. The Sound of Victory!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fair continues and Chiaki runs in even more problems!

Chiaki stumbled a bit out of the car for the roller coaster. Her world was spinning and she could barely stand. Hajime was next to her, laughing wholeheartedly, and it was a wonderful sound. Only Chiaki wanted to throw up, since the spins and roundabouts on the roller coaster screwed up her guts. She gave a weak smile at Hajime, though.

“Are you okay?” He said, still having a laugh.

“Y-yeah…” Chiaki smiled. “Kind of…”

Hajime then looked at her slyly. “Wanna go again?”

“No!” Chiaki crossed her arms like an X. Then, a sweat drop went down her face. “Uh.. I mean… how about a different ride?” 

“I know, I know.” Hajime chuckled, looking around. “Maybe something less… spinning. That might be a bit hard, though. Half the rides spin.”

“Darn…” Chiaki was glad to have an excuse that could last a couple of minutes. “Wanna play some carnie games?”

Hajime gave another chuckle. “Of course. How about the star shooter?”

“Hmm. Sure! But it might be rigged.” Chiaki warned.

“I’m sure it’s fine, right? Hope’s Peak probably wouldn’t…” Hajime seemed to rethink. “Nevermind. Let’s play anyway.”

They walked towards the star shooter, Chiaki taking one air shooter in hand and Hajime taking another. One of the others there was another underclassmen, with a brown, swirled up ponytail and a red track jacket on. She looked over at the two, with a gleeful smile.

“Good luck!” She said, and then went to aim at the star page.

Chiaki herself smiled back, then went back to the game at hand. She waited for the carnie to say so, and when they did, she began firing. Usually, she was good at shooter games and enjoyed them, but as most star shooters were, it was most likely rigged. The bullets that were supposed to hit the page instead bounced off, and Chiaki was becoming a bit frustrated. However, within a few moments of the game, Hajime shot his star page down.

The person running the stand looked at it, looked back at Hajime, and shrugged. Hajime won a toy gun for his hard work. Chiaki herself wondered how he was able to win a rigged game, but decided not to question it. She merely chalked it up to Izuru. 

“Hey, nice play!” The track-suit girl had approached, throwing up peace signs. 

“Ah, thanks.” Hajime responded, putting the toy gun into the prize bag. “You didn’t do bad, either.”

“My name is Aoi Asahina, by the way!” Hina smiled at them. “You’re from the class above, right?”

“I think so…” Chiaki said, tapping her chin. 

“That’s cool! I hope we can see each other more often, then! Buuut,” She pouted a little, but smiled otherwise. “I’m going for some donuts.”

“It was nice to meet you, Asahina.” Hajime waved farewell.

“Mhm!” Chiaki waved goodbye as she left, going towards the food court.

“Geez, we’ve got a lot of prizes, huh?” Hajime noted, looking at the bag. “We might be out of room for anymore.”

“Oh… hm. Should we get another bag?” Chiaki asked, blinking innocently. 

“Probably…” Hajime started walking towards the gift shop. Chiaki followed suit, that was, until she spotted one of her classmates.

Kazuichi was looking miserable as he stared down at something, his arms limp at his side. Chiaki saw that there were a few things on the ground, mostly carnival prizes and gift shop items. She tugged on Hajime, trying to get his attention.

“Hey, hey, can you go ahead? I need to help someone real quick.” She informed him.

“Uh, sure. I’ll probably be back by the time you’re done, unless the clerk is unreasonable.” Hajime went on his way.

Chiaki speed-walked towards the mechanic who was now looking to the sky as if searching for an answer to his problems. If only the sky did hold the answer to all of their problems, instead of having to blindly find them themselves. The gamer waved to him, and he looked at her with a half annoyed and half embarrassed look. She bent down and began picking up said items.

“Oh no, ya don’t really have to-” Kazuichi began, but Chiaki cut him off.

“No, it’s fine, I’ll always help out my classmates in need.” Chiaki smiled at him, and then continued picking up the items. She noticed a bag around his shoulder and side. “Is that for whenever…”

Kazuichi nodded. “Yeah, it happens more often than I like,” He sighed. “I was just about to put those in the bag, too… ‘specially when my arms were gettin’ numb.”

“You can feel when it’s about to happen?” 

“Yeah, first, my arms get all numb, then they just… stop completely. It was terrifyin’ at first, now it’s just annoyin’.” 

“Oh… I’m sorry.” Somehow, apologizing seemed fit for the situation. 

“Nah, don’t be. That stupid car jack…” Kazuichi angrily stared into the ground, then his expression changed to that of thinking. Silence stretched on before he changed the topic. “Ya said ya would help out always?”

“Mhm.” Chiaki wondered where this was going.

“Does that include advice?”

Chiaki picked up the last thing, opening Kazuichi’s bag for him. “...I think so. I’m not too great at advice, but I can try!”

The mechanic looked to the side, almost embarrassed. “Can ya help me with apologizin’ to Mi- _Sonia_?” 

“Huh?” Chiaki clipped the bag shut and looked up at him, tilting her head. “What do you mean? Did you do something as of late?” 

“Well… not lately, I think, but the whole time I knew her… I’ve kinda been a real jerk.” Kazuichi looked back at the sky.

So he’s just now noticed… Chiaki thought, but didn’t say aloud. “Oh… well, your track record with her isn’t the best…”

“Yeah… Guess dyin’ and having my life flash before my eyes really open them up.” 

“Hm… apologizing for the way you acted towards someone can be difficult. I think you need to just remember that it’ll take time.” Chiaki tried her best to explain. “I think you should also be upfront about apologizing about previous behavior… and I guess just try and be her friend instead?” 

Kazuichi smiled at the gamer. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Your a real friend, ya know that?” 

Chiaki smiled warmly. “Thank you. Good luck with apologizing!”

“Thanks again!” Kazuichi walked away, and Chiaki could see his arms slowly starting to work again as he did so.

She smiled again, happy she was helping her friend. The sound of a victory bell turned her attention to the Lucky Gambit game, a game that had a few minigames of luck, like one where you guess which of ten cards are two joker cards. She saw Nagito being handed a large plush panda, and the teen next to him giving him a thumbs up. Deciding to head over, the gamer greeted Nagito and the teen next to him.

“Hey, hey.” She waved.

“Oh, Chiaki, isn’t it just great to see you? Isn’t this fair just brimming with hope?” Nagito smiled, setting the plush down next to a pile. 

“Um… yes?” Chiaki tilted her head, then she turned to the other. “Hello. I’m Chiaki Nanami.”

“Oh, hi!” He waved. “My name is Makoto Naegi.”

“Naegi is Class 78’s Lucky Student! Isn’t that just swell?” Nagito’s smile widened. “He really knows how much hope has been put into this fair.”

Makoto gave a nervous chuckle. “I said I might know.”

“That means you know a little!”

“Um… so who is in the lead?” Chiaki asked instead.

“Komaeda is, I think.” Makoto responded with. 

“Ah, by only one point.” Nagito laughed- and it sounded like choking. Makoto looked incredibly freaked out, and seemed to take a step forward to help, but Nagito stopped laughing. “How lucky of us to keep guessing the joker card, right?”

“U-um…” Makoto processed something, then scratched the side of his cheek. “Yeah, I guess.”

Chiaki blinked. What would happen if two Lucky Students collided? Would their luck cancel out, or only grow stronger? How many Lucky Students could there be at one time? Why was she asking these questions when obviously Hope’s Peak is trying to also find that out?

“How great, you must be winning a lot of prizes, then.” Chiaki complimented.

“Yes, actually, my prize bag broke. How unlucky…” Nagito smiled, a bit sadly if Chiaki really looked.

“I never bought a prize bag…” Makoto sighed. “I should have.”

“They’re incredibly useful- yet so cheap.” Nagito laughed again, earning him a look from Makoto, who then looked at Chiaki with surprise.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Hm? Oh. Yes, I just have a sad face.” Chiaki said without skipping a beat. Makoto furrowed his brows, almost as if he didn’t really believe her, but he didn’t pry. Good.

“Oh, okay. Should we go again?” He asked Nagito, who nodded, going through his wallet.

“Ah, I’m out of money.” Nagito shrugged.

Just then, Hajime walked over, but he tripped on a rock, landing face first into the ground. Chiaki gasped in surprise, kneeling down to help as he propped himself up. He shook his head, grabbing her hand, then spotted something.

“Oh.” He reached out, hand going under a cracked board and the stand, and pulled out a bill. “I found ten thousand yen.” 

As if by some unknown, unexplainable chance, Makoto, Nagito, and Hajime all said, at the same time, “How lucky.” Then stared at one another. Chiaki felt as if she were in some sacred circle of lucky people. Nagito was the first to break the short-lived silence, and with laughter.

“Who knew that an Ultimate _Student Counselor_ could be any sort of lucky? Or, maybe it was just the two of us standing here.”Nagito smiled, and Hajime gave a nervous chuckle.

Having found the money for the game, all three began playing. All three began winning fairly quickly. Makoto won a large white bear plush, and Hajime put the black bear plush he won earlier on it’s right side. Chiaki thought it was kind of cute to look at, the bears were friends! 

After watching for a while, Chiaki casually looked around the surrounding area, wondering if she’ll find anything else to do. Not that watching Hajime play a game with Nagito and an underclassman wasn’t any fun, but Chiaki wasn’t just a watcher of games. She played them. While searching for said game, she saw Sonia speaking to someone with black drill extensions. In fact, that girl looked incredibly fancy, but Sonia looked incredibly uncomfy.

Getting ready to save another of her friends from weird conversations with weird and potentially dangerous people, Chiaki made her way over. 

“-Novoselic might be small, but it’s not invisible, right?” The fancy lady seemed to be in the middle of asking.

“Erm, yes? We aren’t the most known, but that doesn’t matter to m-” Sonia didn’t get to finish her sentence.

“So you are actually royalty? You live upon a castle?” The fancy lady had a french accent from what Chiaki could tell.

“Yes, but-” 

“How interesting, I hope one day to own a castle myself.” 

“How wonderfu-”

“Is it difficult running a country?”

Sonia looked frustrated. Chiaki wondered why. The gamer pushed through, smiling at the both of them. “Hey, hey!” She greeted the both of them, giving a wink to Sonia. The fancy teen furrowed her brows, looking annoyed for a second.

“Greetings, I am Celestia Ludenburg.” Celeste smiled at her.

“I’m Chiaki Nanami.” 

“Oh, Chiaki, how wonderful for you to be here!” Sonia forced a smile, slightly giving her the ‘help me’ eyes. 

“Ah, Sonia and I were having a spectacular conversation just now.” Celeste commented, almost hinting at Chiaki to leave them. 

“Um, are you having fun at the festival, too?” Chiaki asked.

“Indeed! Not much to gamble on, unfortunately, but I always find a way.” 

“Gambling? Do you go against the Lucky Student in your class often?”

“Oh! Yes, Makoto is such an opponent. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone have a losing streak, and then turn it around in such a way.” Celeste chuckled, her hand to her mouth as if she were showing off her accessories as well.

“Well, Naegi is with the Lucky Student of our class as well, trying the Lucky Gambit. You could try and go against the two of them. That might be fun!” Chiaki suggested, tilting her head to give it more of a genuine look of recommendation. 

“Oh?” Celeste then looked conflicted, looking from the European princess and then to the Lucky Gambit. “Hm, but I’d just hate to drop the conversation all of a sudden-”

“No, no! It’s fine with me! Go have a fun time!” Sonia seemed a bit too excited to get rid of her. Chiaki held no ill will over that.

“Alrighty then. We shall continue later.” Celeste left, and Sonia let out a large sigh.

“I must thank you, Chiaki, she was getting very… persistent.” Sonia gave an exasperated smile. 

“I understand. Being a princess has to be hard, especially when you just wanna have fun.” Chiaki nodded sympathetically.

“Yes, in fact, I was trying to look for the Ultimate Detective, but she just stopped me and started asking all these questions!” Sonia sighed frustratingly. 

“The Ultimate Detective? Why?” Chiaki tilted her head again, only this time in confusion.

“To talk murder cases! She must have seen many, right?” Sonia clasped her hands together, almost excitedly.

“I guess so…” Chiaki was glad her friends had interests besides their own talent, but some of those interests… were a bit concerning.

“Have you seen her?”

“Um… no, but I can keep an eye out, if you want!” Chiaki smiled.

“Thank you!” Sonia hugged Chiaki tightly, and the gamer remembered something.

“Oh, and Sonia?” 

“Yes?”

“Kazuichi has something he wants to say to you.” 

Sonia looked a bit disconcerted, and then put on a nervous smile. “Oh…”

“It’s nothing like the usual, I promise. It’s serious this time.” Chiaki had a determined look.

“Well… if you say it’s serious, then it must be! I’ll try not to avoid him next time I see him.” Sonia then looked around. “Oh, was that her? My apologies, but I must go!” She then skipped away almost, and Chiaki could only chuckle heartedly.

The gamer then looked back at the Lucky Gambit, victory bells chiming every round. She didn’t want to leave Hajime, but the fair still had games she had yet to play, so the gamer walked away. Besides, Hajime would be fine on his own.

**_[Achievement Get: Lucky, Lucky, Lucky!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I make Kazuichi seem too country? Nah, nah  
> No, this isn't late, you're late.


	19. The Fair's Despairing End!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiaki considers leaving the fairgrounds after a nice day. However, things don't go as planned and the winning streak is over.

There were many fun games at the fair, and Chiaki played almost all of them. She had to get another prize bag, though, but that was about it for any hiccups. She had watched Nekomaru at the strongman game, going against Sakura, the Ultimate Martial Artist, and Akane. They all hit the bell. Chiaki tried, but only managed to get halfway. 

Then, she rode some of the rides- though she had to stop because she was getting dizzy. The fair was going well, in her opinion, as she was having fun after only a few obstacles. But, now it was nearly the end of the fair, and she had done almost everything she could there. She took a few bites out of the sandwich she bought from the food court, wondering if she should find Hajime to tell him she was going to leave soon.

 _Maybe I should just text him_ , Chiaki thought as she walked towards the entrance of the fair grounds. Or should she leave yet? Many of her friends were still there, but she wanted to play video games… Speaking of friends, she spotted Mahiru and Hiyoko talking to what looked like the Ultimate Detective. Great, she can go over and tell her that Sonia wanted to talk!

The gamer made her way over a bit gleefully, but then realized Mahiru looked incredibly nervous, and so did Hiyoko. Sato was nearby, too, but she seemed to be only glaring at Hiyoko. A bit worried by her friends' looks, she tried to see what could be the problem. All she saw was them talking calmly, with Mahiru’s hands on Hiyoko’s shoulder, almost holding her head up- oh.

So that was the issue! Chiaki knew how to get the detective away, so this should be a breeze. She walked over, smiling a bit sleepily as she waved.

“Hey, hey. You’re the Ultimate Detective, right?” She greeted the teenager.

“Hm? Yes, I am. You must be the Ultimate Gamer and class representative for 77-B. Nice to meet you,” She bowed, then turned back to Mahiru and Hiyoko. “I would also like to thank you for telling me a few things, especially about the recent increase of students in your class.”

Chiaki shot them both a look, and Mahiru shook her head at her. Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, she turned to the Detective. “I hope I’m not bothering you, but my friend Sonia wants to meet you. She loves murder cases.”

The detective arched a brow, and looked over at Mahiru and Hiyoko, almost narrowing her eyes at them. “Hm.” She was silent for a couple of more seconds, then looked at Chiaki. “She’s the princess? Alright, I’ll speak with her.” Why did that sound like she was going to interrogate Sonia? Must be Chiaki chalking it up to her talent.

“She might be over by the prize corner!” Chiaki added helpfully, and watched her walk away.

“Thank you, Chiaki!” Mahiru sighed, almost frustrated. “She wouldn’t leave for a good few minutes, even when we made excuses!” 

“What a nosy bitch!” Hiyoko chimed in, then grabbed her own head to keep it from flopping over as Mahiru removed her hands from her shoulders.

“How did this happen?” Chiaki asked, walking over to help in any other way she could.

“Well, you see… um…” Hiyoko puffed out her cheeks, not wanting to say.

“She tripped while dancing,” Answered Mahiru, who was looking over at Sato. 

“It wasn’t an accident! Someone tripped me! I never trip while dancing!” Hiyoko whined as Chiaki wondered what she should do.

“Do… do you know how to re-snap it?” Wondered Chiaki, as Hiyoko had yet to do anything.

“Yes… because Hajime showed me how! I didn’t forget or anything…” First name basis? Did Hajime earn a friend out of Hiyoko already? 

“How often does it happen?”

Hiyoko then pouted. “It’s stupid! The slightest touch dislocates it, and then don’t get me started on dancing that requires me to move my neck!” She seemed to be having difficulty with her twisted neck. 

“Oh… I’m sorry.” Chiaki always felt bad for her friends’ torments. Plus, she could have saved Hiyoko if she wasn’t so slow.

Hiyoko was about to whine again when Sato had come over and snapped her neck in place. It was kind of harsh, and Chiaki grimaced as Hiyoko let out a squeal of… well it wasn’t pain, but Chiaki didn’t know what it was. The dancer glared at the ally, and shuffled closer to the photographer. 

“Could you guys get along for a second, please?” Mahiru pinched the bridge of her nose. No wonder she constantly looked like she was exasperated, apparently her good friends were fighting. Maybe.

“Tell her not to snap other people’s necks!” Hiyoko sneered, and Sato let out a snort.

“Tell her to woman up.” Shot back Sato, who was looking down at Hiyoko.

“...I hope you have a good day, Chiaki.” Mahiru turned to the gamer, who was awkwardly standing by.

“Um… I hope you have a good day, too. Or… at least try to.” Chiaki scratched the side of her head, wondering why Mahiru’s friends didn’t get along. 

“...Yeah.” Mahiru looked over at her bickering friends, and Chiaki took it as an invite to leave them alone. She didn’t want to get into personal problems, only problems that were life threatening.

As Chiaki walked away, she started to think that maybe Sato might not be entirely friendly. Something that Natsumi said a few days ago came to mind, and she shook it off, trying to think of what to do next. Should she leave now? Surely nothing else could happen, right? 

The thought of Mikan talking to that pig-tailed girl came to mind, and Chiaki furrowed her brows. Maybe she should just check up on the nurse, nothing wrong with that. Who knows what that… murderer told her! With a goal in mind the gamer began walking the grounds again, looking for the choppily-cut haired nurse. 

It was taking quite some time, Chiaki kept rounding the same corners, and looking through the same rides. She couldn’t spot Mikan, no matter where she looked. Dread crept into her dead heart, and she started searching a bit more frantically. Going into a more empty area, Chiaki tried to calm herself down. Mikan wouldn’t be in too much trouble, right?

Fear still present, the gamer slowed herself down and continued to search more calmly. It would do no good to panic in a situation like this. Besides, she might attract startling attention if she was in a panicked haze. After searching unsuccessfully some more, the gamer started to give up, slowing her pace to an amble. That was, until she glanced over a shielded alcove near one of the rides. 

Mikan was there, talking to Ryota! That was a good sign, right? Chiaki smiled softly, thankful that they both weren’t hurt. That smile turned into a confused look as Mikan took out a scalpel, and Ryota started shaking. That confused look turned to horror as it looked like Mikan was going to strike at the animator.

Without a second thought, Chiaki bolted with all her might, and made it just in time to grasp Mikan’s wrist firmly. “Stop!” She shouted, huffing a bit from the sudden running. Mikan struggled against her wrist, and she saw that the nurse’s eyes were angry, full of hatred for something otherworldly. “What are you doing?!”

“It’s not possible! None of us are possible! Unnatural! I HAVE TO FIND OUT HOW!” She screamed, it becoming increasingly clear that whatever that pig-tailed girl had said to her had stuck. Or maybe this had been growing since they came to life, the poor nurse suffering alone.

“Mikan, listen to me! Why does it matter? If we’re all alive-” Chiaki was interrupted by Mikan yelling again, twisting in her grip.

“Because! It matters because!” The nurse blinked a couple of times, eyebrows furrowing deeply and mouth twisted in a scowl. “It doesn’t matter the reason! It’s not medically possible!”

Chiaki internally began to freak out. How was she going to help her friend? Why was Mikan so intent on finding out?! The gamer tried to focus on the now, and took the scalpel away. It was very sharp, enough to probably cut someone. Poor Ryota was shaken, and Chiaki gestured for him to run. Tears in his eyes, the Animator scampered away, if Chiaki could call it running.

Mikan had also begun to cry. “I have to…” It was all senseless murmuring now. Chiaki held onto her wrist, and began taking her away. If Izuru had all the talents, could he give Mikan therapy? Or would seeing the very person who made all impossible medical advancements possible make it worse?

“Um, Mikan, you’re going to see Hajime, okay? He’s going to help you.” Chiaki hoped that helped. It did not.

Mikan went from looking depressed to angry again. “No! I don’t want to see that poor excuse of a human being!” She then sharply ripped her wrist away from Chiaki and she practically snarled at the gamer. “Don’t tell me I need help- who’s the nurse here?! Who?!” She was tearing out her hair.

“Mikan, please! I don’t want to see you hurting yourself and others just to find out why we’re alive, when we aren’t!” Chiaki shouted back. “We didn’t come back perfectly fine, you know!” 

The nurse still seemed out of control, and Chiaki was actually fearful that she’d harm someone. So, she did the best thing she could do at that moment. She quickly lunged at her and grasped her wrists, then bolted, causing her to trip over her legs. Now, she was dragging Mikan, who was shouting at her. When she got her back to the secluded area, she brought out her phone and called up Hajime.

“Hey,” Chiaki said into the phone when he picked up.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, as if he knew instantly that something was up.

“I- I need your help. It’s Mikan, she- she just started attacking someone! I didn’t know what to do!” Chiaki explained, trying to keep Mikan restrained; however, it was getting increasingly difficult.

“Calm down, don’t worry, I’ll see what I can do. Where are you?” Izuru appeared.

“Behind the merry-go-round.” Chiaki told, and then Izuru hung up. Great. 

Mikan wrenched away from Chiaki again, and the gamer then wrapped her arms around her fully in a tight hug. The last restraining technique she could do. She held on tightly for as long as possible, and could hear Mikan sniffling. At least she wasn’t yelling anymore, but the gamer couldn’t help but tear up for her friend as well. She couldn’t imagine what the nurse had to be going through.

“How adorable,” A monotonous voice came from behind her, yet it dripped with sarcasm. “Are you done?”

“Right, right.” Chiaki murmured, stepping away from Mikan, who was crying and mumbling ‘I’m sorry’. 

“I’ll just take her away now. I don’t want to waste my time anymore than it already had been. Hajime says hello, by the way.” Izuru huffed, then dragged Mikan away with an iron grip.

Chiaki worriedly tried to follow, but as she took another step, a wave of lightheadedness hit her like a crashing tide. She staggered forward, shock spread across her face as she steadied herself against a railing for the line to the merry-go-round. What was happening? Why did she feel so… weird? Her thoughts began to jumble her sense of direction and filtering her words disappearing completely.

“Uh…” She muttered, wobbly walking forward. “I think I just need to go home… maybe sleep.” She then chuckled. “Ahh, maybe I can just sleep here.” 

She continued to stagger around like she had no clue where she was going. She didn’t. She rubbed at her eyes, and began blurting out whatever was on her mind. She looked over at one of the rides and laughed at how weird it looked, with the way it moved up and down like a caterpillar. The gamer continued on, trying to find her way to the exit.

While sort of going in circles and even spinning in circles, the gamer bumped into someone- or two people. She squinted, trying to make them out behind all of the waves her vision was making, and spotted pinkish-blond pigtails. Why did that seem familiar? Oh well. The other had shorter, blue-ish hair. Also a bit familiar.

“Oh, it’s you,” The pig-tailed blonde said.

“Huh? Oh, hello, I’m Chiaki Nanami.” She waved, a bit too ecstatically. 

“...Uh, yeah, I know that. You told me? Then you told me you were gonna like, get in my way.” 

“Did I?” She couldn’t really remember. The pig-tails were kind of dancing, and that was distracting. She let out a laugh. “I’m sorry- but I just thought of something funny. You know those little dogs? Those tiny ones- Chi- uh, chihahas? What if they had cat tails?”

The pig-tailed girl looked taken aback, as if Chiaki just said something ridiculous. Well, she kind of did, but what if those little dogs had cat tails? 

“Um… Mukuro?” The pig-tailed girl said.

“Yes, Miss Junko?” Mukuro replied.

“I think someone drugged her, did you do anything?” 

“No, Miss Junko. Unless you want me to?”

“No, no. Hm, this is actually beneficial, we can get rid of her way easier now.” 

Chiaki had blocked out their conversation, staring behind them. Was that- was that Miss Yukizome or a bewear? Did those exist in real life? Was this real life? She started walking towards her, a bit wobbly due to the fact she felt like she was floating. Shouting was behind her, but it dwindled down to snickering for some reason. Oh well.

“Oh- Chiaki! Have you been having a good day at the fair?” Chisa asked, but Chiaki spaced out a little.

“Miss Yukizome…” Her head was starting to clear a bit, but… “Have you ever thought about being a starship commander?”

“I- huh?” The teacher tilted her head in confusion.

“That way, you could command the starships. Like, pew pew.”

“Chiaki? Are you okay? You seem a little… out of it.” She was examining Chiaki’s face.

“Uh… Maybe I got hit by a Dizzy Punch…” Chiaki blinked a couple of times, and suddenly she felt like she was crashing. It felt as if she had been floating, and now she was free-falling- no, plummeting- towards the Earth. She staggered forward, and then sort of swayed while holding her head.

“Oh my- Chiaki, are you alright?!” Chisa seemed really panicked. 

“U-um…” Chiaki squeezed her eyes shut, then looked at her teacher. “I-I think so… I don’t really know what happened.”

“Did you ride too many rides?”

“No, not in the last two hours…” She answered, wondering what happened. Why did she suddenly feel like she was on a very mild form of anesthesia? Or a dizzy potion from her video games… but the first seemed more likely. “Maybe it’s just the heat or something.”

“Hm…” Chisa sighed, then gave Chiaki a smile. Then, she looked up. Chiaki saw her face twist in horror, eyes widening and mouth dropping open a little. She shoved Chiaki aside so suddenly, the gamer barely had time to register it. “Gh-!” Chisa then let out a pained cry.

Chiaki looked back, and screamed. There was a knife in her teacher’s ribcage, blood oozing out like a waterfall. There was even some coming out of her mouth. The gamer rushed over, dropping to her knees next to the fallen teacher, tears streaming down her face.

“No- no! Please- please hold on!” Chiaki sobbed, looking around wildly. The effects of feeling woozy were still present, and tears blurred her vision, but she could still see someone nearby. “Hey! HEY! SOMEONE! HELP!” She screamed, and her teacher coughed.

“I-I’m fine… i-it’s okay… Chiaki…” She said, very weak.

Someone had come running over, and Chiaki could see it was Peko. The swordswoman covered her mouth, and then ran off again, and the gamer only hoped she was getting help. She was still crying uncontrollably, trying to wipe the tears away.

“Don’t worry- d-don’t worry Miss Y-Yukizome, someone’s getting h-help!” Chiaki sniffled, trying to put on a strong face. 

“It’s… going… to be okay…” Chisa tried to sit up, but she fell back down.

People were running over, Chiaki’s classmates, all of them shouting. Asking what happened, why was Chisa stabbed, why was she dying, who did this. Chiaki couldn’t answer through her sobs.

“Fucking hell, get out of my way, do none of you bastards know how to stop the fucking bleeding?” Fuyuhiko’s harsh voice came through, and the yakuza shoved past, kneeling down and putting his hands around the wound. “Don’t you fucking die on us, too!”

“Miss Yukizome- why?” Chiaki tearfully asked.

“I… had to save my… student…” Chisa coughed up blood.

“But Miss Yukizome!” Sonia had also come over- in fact almost everyone from the class was here. A lot of them had started crying. “You didn’t have to!”

“Of course… I had to…” Her voice was weaker.

“No- no!” Chiaki cried out. “You didn’t! We can’t- We can’t die! We already did!” Chiaki found herself spilling the secret. “It wasn’t a prank! It wasn’t!”

“Please don’t die, Miss Yukizome!” Hiyoko cried out.

“We don’t want you to die, too!” Kazuichi shouted, also sobbing. 

“Do not let the claws of darkness rip you away from this realm!” Gundham practically commanded.

“Don’t leave us!” 

“We need you!”

“Please…” Chiaki sniffled. “Please live…”

Chisa had struggled to keep her eyes open. “I… knew there was something… special about you all…” Then, her eyes slid shut. 

Fuyuhiko shakily took his hands off from around the knife. His hands were covered in blood. He stared blankly at them, and shut his eyes tightly. Chiaki covered her mouth, choking out sobs. The whole class had also begun crying. 

Chisa was gone.

**_[Chisa Yukizome has logged off!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chisa tries to be the best she can, huh? She's my favorite teacher!
> 
> Also, I might be going on hiatus for like, a week. Only because I have to catch up on a few things. I also considered uploading only on Mondays and Fridays, I'll update you on that. The description may be changed accordingly.
> 
> Also, sorry if the pacing feels off! I'm still learning how to write pacing still :> I believe I'm getting better at it!


	20. The Angel in the Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter. One objective. Will they succeed, or will it blow up in their faces?

Blurry tears obscured her vision, choking wails escaped her throat as she was over the teacher’s body. Everyone she held special had died. Her classmates, her teacher, the only one left was Hajime- and sometimes he wasn’t even Hajime! Why did the world hate them so much? Why did the world hate her so much?

A chorus of sobs and shouts were coming all around her; her classmates were crying as well. Hiyoko was wailing, Mahiru was holding onto her as Sato patted her on the back. Natsumi crouched beside her brother, who was still looking on with terror and shock. Ryota hugged the Imposter, who even had tears leaking from his eyes but held a deadpan expression. 

The gamer reached out again, but shrunk back, continuing to stare. Her surroundings had been drowned out by the ringing of her ears, she could only focus on her teacher’s dead body. Questions ran through her mind, but they were locked out by the guilt and remorse building up. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see silvery purple hair and someone next to them wearing a green hoodie- but she didn’t care. 

Another sob choked out, and she raised her head to the sky, and cried out. “Hajime!” She sobbed. “Hajime!” It was the only name on her mind. 

A hand then landed on her shoulder. A teenager who was not there a minute ago, was crouching beside her. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay, remember?” 

Chiaki hugged him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder. “Why her? Why? Why…” She snivelled, clutching onto his shirt.

“Hey- Chiaki, don’t worry. We just need to-” Hajime then paused, and Chiaki looked up to see him looking at something. She turned, and saw Makoto- she believed- and the detective. Lowering his voice, Hajime said, “We need them to go.”

The gamer didn’t want to let go of Hajime, because if she couldn’t bury her face somewhere, then she’d only look at Chisa. Yet, she did, because he had to somehow get rid of the detective and Makoto- one of which, look incredibly shocked and distraught at the sight of a dead body, and the other seemed analytical. Chiaki continued to stare at her beloved teacher as Hajime did what he had to, so much so that the glazed over eyes seemed to burn into the gamer’s very mind.

After what seemed like hours- days, even- of Chiaki slowly disconnecting from the world, Hajime returned. She didn’t know if she meant to, but she completely blocked out all other sounds as her teacher’s pained words ran through her head. Chisa had been picked up, but Chiaki stared at the blood-stained grass, lightly dried from the sun’s rays. No more tears were left to shed.

A hand shook her gently, and she looked at… Izuru, who seemed pretty annoyed. She looked over at her classmates, who were either still crying, looked horrified, or were traumatized, and realized they might be waiting for her. They were looking at her, definitely. Chiaki then realized something, that her classmates needed her. She couldn’t continue staring into nothing, she needed to have a strong facade for her classmates. 

Chiaki got up, taking a deep breath. Then, she looked at Izuru, who was already walking away, and looked back at her friends. Nekomaru was holding Chisa. She tried not to look, and instead gestured for them to follow her. With that, she walked after Izuru, trying not to think too much about it. Their teacher will be back, soon. Soon.

[---]

They were back there again. Chiaki didn’t like it, the memories of her friends’ corpses flashing in her mind. She took a deep breath, trying not to break down into tears, and looked to see what Izuru was doing. Chisa was on the table. Chiaki looked away.

Her classmates were all standing around by the entrance. All of them were apprehensive, with sniffles being heard and faint sounds of worry. They haven’t gotten used to it, did they? Who would ever get used to this? ...Or maybe this was their new normal. Goodbye to the relaxing beach days… the picnics… the normal, fun days they would all have. Now it was just death, death, death, death, death.

She tried to not think too much about it. She had to focus on the task at hand, and that was the revival of their teacher. She saw Mikan sitting by, sniffling, having been there since arrival. Was she okay again? It must be terrible to nearly kill someone… who already died. Again, Chiaki tried to focus. She didn’t want to, but she had to.

Izuru had his hand over the lever. His expression was different than usual, this time; it was bored-looking, but there was just a flicker of apprehension in his eyes. His eyebrows were also indented a little, as if something was amiss, but Chiaki found no fault. It was just like the other times; the dead body, the lever going down- Izuru pulled the lever now-, the flicker of the lights and the resurrected. 

Chiaki waited. Chisa still had her eyes closed, her breath not coming back. The gamer furrowed her eyebrows, it was taking way longer than the other times. She looked up to Izuru, who didn’t have a bored expression anymore; it was frustration. His eyebrows dipped low in fury, and his nose was scrunched up a little in disgust. Something had to be wrong.

“What the fuck? What’s taking so fucking long, bastard?!” Fuyuhiko shouted, but it wasn’t as powerful as his usual shouting. It was cracked and broken, as if everything was going wrong. 

“Give it a moment.” Izuru’s voice wasn’t as monotonous, there was a hint of recoil.

“We’re giving it all the time we have, but nothing is happening!” Sonia cried out, despair clear in her voice. Chiaki looked back, and was only a little startled to see blood coming out of her mouth.

“Wh-why isn’t Ch-Chisa back yeeeet?” Hiyoko sobbed, wiping at her tears with her sleeves. Her neck was also snapped again...

“Could the dark forces have taken her away for the rest of time?” Gundham’s voice gurgled, because not only was water coming from his eyes from crying, but it was leaking from his mouth.

“Th-that can’t be! No! Come on, teach! You’re stronger than this!” Ibuki was fizzling, with static electricity buzzing around her, threatening to shock- or maybe electrocute- anyone who touched her.

Were there side-effects acting up because of this? Chiaki couldn’t see through the blur of tears. Izuru put the lever up again, he seemed to be surveying something. The gamer decided to pipe up, her voice cracking horribly.

“Is- is she gone forever?” 

Izuru looked at her, and she saw Hajime stare with sympathy. Then determination. It seemed to seep to Izuru, because his gaze became more stoic, but hardened with persistence. He cranked a dial, and the room seemed to become a bit darker. He pulled the lever down again, the lights flashing even more speedily. Chisa still didn’t get up. Chiaki covered her mouth. 

“I-It’s no use, is it?” Chiaki sniffled, trying not to cry again.

“...It’s being a bit stubborn…” Izuru mumbled. “It’s not something I can just do to everyone…” He sighed, and looked at them.

Chiaki took a deep breath, trying to look back at her classmates. Some of them looked angry, everyone else looked heart-broken. The gamer felt her chest begin to ache terribly again… She clutched it, tears riding down her face freely as she looked at Izuru. The Ultimate Hope narrowed his eyes, and seemed to tightened his fists.

He then cranked the same dial, the room beginning to flash with a red light. A siren was blaring, and Chiaki had to cover her ears. She watched as Izuru pulled the lever down with such force, it seemed to loosen itself. Electricity cackled around the room, the usual, simple whirring of machines raising to full on clunking. Things began shaking horridly, and Chiaki saw a small flicker of surprise in Izuru’s face. Was… was this not supposed to happen? Probably not!

“What the hell is goin’ on?!” Kazuichi screamed.

“We’re all going to dieeee!” Ibuki screeched- and added, “Again!”

“Everyone- please, calm down!” Chiaki shouted as she stood before them, almost blocking them from the machines. “We’re going to be oka-” She couldn’t finish her sentence. 

BANG!

BOOM!

Chiaki was flown forward as her classmates were knocked back. The room’s walls began caving in as the ceiling came down, and Chiaki realized she was flat on her stomach. Her head was swimming, but there wasn’t any pain. However, her vision kept going in and out- or was that her consciousness? Everytime she closed her eyes, people would have moved in a panic. Why couldn’t she stay awake for her classmates?

Izuru seemed to be getting them out the door, though, so she didn’t have to worry! No, she did have to worry, what just happened?! Her mind began clearing a little, and she realized that _an explosion went off and most likely took half the room or building._ The gamer struggled to get up, but realized something was over her- rubble. Damn it!

She squinted her eyes, dust and small rock getting in. Were her friends safe? Looking around, she spotted Izuru had moved, stumbling a bit. No, that was Hajime who was clutching his stomach, trying to go over to Chiaki. He staggered towards her, but slid onto the floor, pain in his eyes. Chiaki reached out, her ears still ringing. 

“H-Hajime…” She tried yelling out, but her voice died halfway. Her vision was blanking.

Then, the weight off her back was lifted slightly, and she saw a blurry figure holding their hand out. Chiaki reached out for them, but looked at Hajime, wondering if he was okay. The figure grasped her hand, and pulled her up. She steadied herself against the person- was it one of her classmates? She looked to Hajime, and opened her mouth to say something. Yet, she couldn’t because smoke was irritating her eyes, nose and mouth.

Was there a fire? Oh, there were multiple. WAIT. Chiaki panicked some more, trying to clear her head, but the smoke was becoming too much. The person who helped her had also picked Hajime up a little, having him lean heavily on them. Chiaki went over as well, helping Hajime walk out. 

The hallway was completely different from the room. It was untouched, and smoke didn’t enter after the door shut. Through the ringing and blurry vision, Chiaki could make out an argument and figures either sitting against the wall or heavily leaning. The figure who helped her disappeared, leaving her to support Hajime.

Blinking multiple times, she could make out her friends, and she could make out Fuyuhiko in an argument with Natsumi. Mikan was running around, trying to help them all. Chiaki took a breath, and shook Hajime a little. His eyes slightly opened, and he coughed. Then, she looked at her friends.

“Is- is everyone okay?” She asked, trying to see if anyone was injured.

Most of them said yes, or gave thumbs up, despite all of them suffering from either side effects or from the blast. Some couldn’t answer- Sonia was coughing too much blood and Gundham had a bucket-, and others were busy arguing. Unfortunately, Fuyuhiko whipped towards Hajime, blood dripping down his chest. 

“What the fuck was that?!” He yelled. “You nearly fucking killed us, again, you bastard!”

Hajime coughed. “U-uh…” With his hand that had been to his stomach, he put it on Chiaki’s arm to steady himself more. The gamer felt wetness at the touch, and saw Hajime bleeding horribly. “I-Izuru said…”

“Who the fuck is Izuru?!” Fuyuhiko marched over, and Chiaki awkwardly shifted.

“U-um, we don’t need to discuss who Izuru is. Hajime needs help…” Chiaki murmured worriedly.

“For the record, Chia- Nanami, don’t speak as if I’m not here.” Izuru suddenly said, his voice steadier than Hajime, yet still strained. “I just need to get to the medical lab. It’s only a few doors down…”

“No- hold the fuck on.” Fuyuhiko snarled practically. “You nearly killed us, and for what? Our fucking teacher’s still dead, motherfucker. And what was with that fucking explosion?”

“...I miscalculated. Could you be quiet now? Or did you forget what I said to you?” Izuru coughed, and blood sprayed onto the floor. “...Medical lab, now.”

Chiaki nodded, and began hurrying him to the ‘medical lab’. Mikan was right behind, as well. It looked like a normal nurses’ office, oddly enough, but it had an operating table instead. Izuru laid down on that, and brushed off Mikan’s attempts to help. Instead, the nurse timidly walked over to Chiaki.

Something was different, though. The nurse had silk elbow gloves. Chiaki looked at her, and looked at Izuru, who was busy helping himself. She looked back at Mikan when the nurse started examining her like a medical check up. A bit awkwardly- but, still trying to be the best friend she can-, Chiaki smiled at her a little. 

“Um… are you okay, Mikan?” Chiaki asked, trying to be a bit reassuring. But after that…

“...Y-yes. Do you… um… feel pain?” Mikan asked, even though she most likely knew the answer.

“No.” Chiaki blinked, fiddling with the sleeves of her charred school uniform. “...Why do you have gloves? Doesn’t that make it hard to check on someone?”

“U-um, yes, but... Hinata said I had to. I can’t let anyone touch my bare skin.” Mikan replied, nervously taking out bits of rubble from Chiaki’s hair.

“Oh… why?”

“...S-something about making p-people ‘nonsensical’... l-like if they h-had awakened from being p-put under.”

Was that what happened to Chiaki? It sort of felt like she was ‘nonsensical’- though it was a bit rough to remember. But… that was the reason Chisa died. Mikan finished her observations, and looked over at Izuru and waited a little. Chiaki decided to wait, too, or that was the plan before excited yelling sounded from the hall. Startled, the gamer rushed towards the door.

She opened the door gently, and froze. Smoke had filled a good portion of the hallway because the door to the laboratory had been opened. Standing in the doorway, with smoke billowing out from the sides, embers flickering around her, and light shining upon her from the fire like a halo was;

Chisa Yukizome.

**_[Achievement Get: Revival of a Deity!]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo, end of this part! Only one more part to go of this three part story, which will be uploaded on Friday!   
> It'll be called Clueless, and it'll be like the last part, with split perspectives; but only with two people instead. Of course, Chiaki will be one of them! She's the protag, after all! She has an ahoge now.


End file.
